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PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



RHODE-ISLAND 



ANTI-SLAVERY CONVENTION, 



HELD IN PROVIDENCE, 



ON THE 



3€l, 3cl and 4th of February, 1836, 



i^~ 



'-i . 3. A. 



PROVIDENCE ; 
H H. BROWN, PRINTER 

1836, 






moi;i'JS::i>ii%^«.^!^, xe. 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE RHODE-ISLAND STATE 
ANTI-SLAVERY CONVENTION. 

Pursuant to a Call signed by eight hundfed and fifty Citizens 
of Rhode-Island, a large number of gentlemen, friendly to the 
immediate Abolition of Slavery, assembled in the High-street Con- 
grcgationed meeting-house in Providence, on Tuesday, Febrnarv 
2, 1836. 

The meeting was called to order by Josiah Cady, of Providence. 

John Brown, of East-Greenwich, was chosen President, and Gil- 
bert Richmond of Providence, and Aaron White, jun. of Cumber- 
land, Secretaries, pro tem. 

After some pertinent introductory remarks, the Convention iniit- 
cd in prayer with Josiah Cady. 

On motion of George W. Benson, of Providence, the Call for an 
Anti-Slavery Convention, was read, as follows : 

RHODE-ISLAND ANTI-SLAVERY 

STATE CONVENTION. 

We the undersigned, citizens of Rhode-Island, and members 
or friends of Anti-Slavery Societies already established in vari- 
ous parts of the State, believing that American Slavefiv is a 
heinous sin against God, which, unless speedily abandoned, will 
prove the ruin of this nation, and believing that the time has 
iully come, in which the friends of immediate emanci))ation in 
this^ State should concentrate their efforts in a State Anti-Slavery 
Society, auxiliary to the American Anti-Slavery Society:— 
do hereby invite a Convention for that purpose', to be held 
in Providence, on Tuesday, 2d day of February, 1836, at 
•2 o'clock, P. ^ M. and to be composed of Delegates from 
Anti-Slavery Societies already existing, and of su'ch friends 
of immediate cmaiicipalion as may reside in towns where no 
Society on tliat piii)ci[)le is yet formed." 

On motion of George W. Benson, all citizens of Rhode- 
Island, approving the olijeclj of the Convention, were invited to 
take seats. 

He also nioved that a committee of three be appointed to 
nominate otticers for the Convention — and George W. Benson, 
Samuel B. Harris and John J. Kilton were cho°en. 



4 Proceedings of the Convention. 

Gilbert Riclimond, of Providence, presented the credentials of 
the Delegates from the American Anti-Slavery Society, Simeon S. 
Jccelyn, Amos A. Phelps, and Henry B. Stanton, and moved that 
they be invited to take their seats — and they were invited. 

Gilbert Richmond moved that all gentlemen from other States, 
friendly to the objects of this Convention, be invited to take seats ; 
and they were invited. 

William P. Newel, of South-Kingstown, moved the appointment 
of a committee, consisting of ten members, to report rules to be ob- 
served by the Convention, and to bring forward business; and William 
P. Newel, Henry B. Stanton, William Goodell, Henry Tatem, 
Orin Spencer, Jonathan Maxson, Pelcg Aldrich, Amos A. Phelps, 
Amos C. Wilbour, and Jotham Sexton, were chosen as that com- 
mittee. 

On motion of Wyllys Ames, the towns of the State were called, 
and the names of the Delegates enrolled, as follows : 

Providence. — Josiali Cady, John Blain, Ilonry Cusliiiig, William Goodell, 
George W. Benson, Wyllys Ames, John E. Drown, James Carpenter, Enos 
Goss, Gilbert Richmond, James Eames, Thomas Truesdell, Josepii Healy, John 
F. Greene, Asa Fairbanks, John Prentice, Joseph Yates, Thomas Davis, Rich- 
ard Burr, Nathan Tyler, Alaiiin Robinson, Samuel Ashley, Christopher Burr, 
Thomas White, H. U. Brown, Amos C. Barstow, VVm. RI. Chare, Isaac Hale, 
Wm. T. Esten, VVm. R. Saxton, Joseph Bogman, John Ames, Charles Hodges, 
Tliomas J. Wardvvcll, John R. Randolph, Nicholas A. Fenner, Samuel Stow, 
Horace Read, Joseph L. Bennett, David Andrews, A. H. Stillwcll, Silas Wes- 
ton, Stephen S. Wardvvcll, Jesse Amsbiiry, Levi F. Barry, Daniel Robinson, 
Stephen Yates, George Mason, Henry Pratt, Robert Tiiompson, Edward Hal- 
lett, Leonard Whitney, A. R. James, Reuben Smith, Jr. John Johnson, Charles 
Hodges, Henry Packard, Samuel K. Thompson, Eilward N. RLason, Thomas 
Reed, Ozias Reed, Seth Yates, C. Lewis, John RL Lewis, VVindsor Ciardner, 
All'red Niger, John C. Cady, Walter Giecnwich. .Amos Fletcher, Cvrus Brown- 
ing, John Tillingliast, Lewis Bosworlh, Joseph Kinney, James Lvine, Ifenry 
T. Cornett, Levi F. Barney, Joseph Viners. D. W. G. Hamilton, PVancis Reed, 
Walter Greenwood, Thomas iMcCjoodcn, S A. Pearcc, Edward Orrcll, James 
Lewis, Thomas Brown, Jr. Stephen K. Rathbcme. 

Brown University. — J. Manning Blakesly. Ira Leeland, Wilbor Tillinghast, 
Geo. W. Frost, Charles C. Burnett. W. Coolcdgc Richards. Durlin L. Brayton, 
Arus llayncs, Russel Ilolman, Andrew Sharpe, Henry (J. Sharpe. 

Noutii-Pkoviiu'.nce. — Nathan Buliinton, \V'm. Chace, Jose])h Stetson, Ray 
Potter, Christy Potter, Wm. Adams, Abraham Wilkinson. Remember Carpen- 
ter, Edward RIason. John RI. WaU-ott, Isaac W Coilycr, Kulus Bliss, Joscf)li B. 
Jennings, Wairen Park, Adams Park, Andrew Huntress, Elias Hntchins. Jolin- 
Bon Gardner, Georgi; A. Vorse. Samuel S. Robinson. Henry B. Drown, Daniel 
Mitchell, Gideon Haiiiilloii. Kussi-ll Park, Joiin Eddy, Silas Salsbury. John 
MfjnteliuH, Jr. Adam .AntliDiiv, Siillman Harris, Josc^ph Hocid. N. H. P.iimcr, 
C. H. Pendlct'm, Henry Maichanl. Janus Ardelon, Josei)h Sisson, Jr. Wm. P. 
Henry, Remember Kent, Isaac V\'ilUinson, (icorge W. VV'alker, G. Barrows, Cor- 
nelius RIanchesler, Jjimes Miller. Amos Babcock, Joseph Eddy, Thomas Tew. 

Smithkiki.i). — \\'\n. Buli'um, Jr. Edward V, Cranston, Wm. L. Holt, Calvin 
Shove, Alpheus Crossman, Jcife|)h K. Whi|>ple, (Charles I*. Crossman, Clirislo- 
pher C. Dexter, Samuel B. Harri-;. Jeri'iuiah Sniilh, Keubeii Rlorey. \Villiam 
Smith, James Pilkington, Juhn Pollard,!,. Rl . BIndgct, Benjamin 1'. 'I'alur, 
Jonathan <"ole, Sleplieii Itiiiedict, Joseph Woml, Ebenc/.er Ide, Obadiah 
Kmitli, Elisiia < >lncy, Alexander (iago, Jeremiah W. Latliam, Pideg Aldiich, 
Chnrles Gladding, Slephen (i. Benediri. .lonalhan Brown, John Jen<ks, Lyman 
i). CiirtiH, Truman Freeman, Pardon Tillinghas', Dan Smith, H N. Ingraham, 
Horace Arnold, Joseph Sim lair, Daniel Keen, Henry Pollard, Wm W. 



Proceedings of the Coiiventwn. 5 

Keen, Albert Keen, Thomas Walch, Wm Robinson, Robert Terry, Wm. S. 
Slater, Benj. B. Pierce, JMaliiewson Latham, Isaac Taher, Warren Park. 

Cumberland.— James O. Brown, W. A. Walcott, Aaron White, Jr. George 
Stone, Alexander Thompson, Willard Pierce, Otis Ingrahain, Benjamin Fessen- 
den, Morris Fretter, Jesse Ellis, Benj. S.Tyler, Carleton Cushman, Jolm New- 
ell, Turner Haskell, Welcome Metcalf, George Thomas. iNathaiiiel Newell, 
Abner Haskell, Ji. H. B. Melcalf, Columbia Tingley, Willard Newel!, Gusta- 
vns A. Alexander, Alexander Barney, Lewis Arnold, Abner Haskell, Lewis 
Metcalf, Alexander Ballou, VVni. Congdon. 

BuRRiLLViLLE. — Smith Battey, Daniel Harris, Jesse Harris, Levi D. Francis, 
James Luther, George S. Chase, Peter Place, Shadrach Stecre. 

Foster. — Wm. Drown. 

SciTUATE. — Benj. R. Allen, Henry G. Dunham, Stephen S. Potter, Jeremy 
Potter, Wm. N. Patt, Alpheus Winsor, Otis Potter, Miles Olney Pray, Joseph 

C. Potter, Cyrus T. Eddy, George P. Catlin, T. W. Eddy, Josiah Harrington, 
Andrew Winsor, Scott Smith, Lyman Brown, Alfred "B. Movviy, Matthew 
Westcott, James Winsor, Stephen Bowen, James Greene, George B. Hutchins, 
Alfred K. Brayton, Wm. Turner, Isaac Fiskc, Albert P. Hawkins, George W. 
Winsor, George W. Tyler, Thomas Winsor, George James Adams. 

JoHNSTo.v. — Charles Brown. 

Cranston. — Caleb Potter, Ezra Barber, Abial Fisher, George Waterman. 

East-Greenwich. — John Brown, Moses Pierce, James Porter, Daniel Car- 
michael, Charles C. Eldridge. 

Warwick. — Cyril Babcock, Ray W. Atwood, Abel Tanner, Erasmus D. 
Clarke, JamcsP. Gardner, William D. Avery, Samuel Phillips, E. Builingame, 
B. Phclan, Thomas R. Greene, Henry Tatem, Stephen G. Hopkin.s, William 
Tanner, Samuel Albro. 

Coventry. — Caleb Kilton, John J. Kilton, Perez Peck, Thomas B. Wilbor, 
Alexander Hayvvard, Jr. Asa Sisson, Jr. William U. Anthony, Albert Antho- 
ny, Peleg Clarke, Oren Spencer, Charles Anthony, William J. Greene, Stephen 
Barber, Charles IMorse, Jr. Nicholas G. Potter, Oliver Prosser, John L. Clarke, 
Richard Chappel, Joseph Sisson, Charles Greene 

SouTH-KiNc.sTowN. — John G. Clarke, William P. Newel, Jeremiah S. Sher^ 
man, John H. Clarke, Luke Aldrich, Elisha A. Robinson, A. C. Wilbur> 
Charles P. Grosvenor, Asa Potter, Thomas P. Wells, Gideon Belcher, George- 
Foster, William Marchant, Jr. 

NoRTH-KiNGSTowN. — Jamcs Allen, George W. T. Allen, Nicholas R. Gard-^ 
ner, William Reynolds, Thomas G. Allen, Jr. 

Richmond. — Wells Reynolds, Joshua Lock, James C. Baker. 

Charlestown. — George A. Stanton, Joseph Cross, (son of Gideon.) 

Hopkinton. — Benjamin F. Potter, Lester Crandall, Wm. C. Burdick, John 

D. Burdick, Isaac Cunduil, Jacob D. Babcock, Franklin Barber, Daniel C. 
Lewis, Congdon Clarke. 

Westerly. — Ebcnezer Brown, Jonathan Maxson, Jonathan Poarce, Ephraim 
Stillman, Bernard W. Pearce, David Smith, Stephen Smith, Jr. Amos Stillman, 
Lewis M. Hastings, Stephen Hendrick, Jonathan Maxson, Jr. 

Barring TO V. — Thomas Williams. 

Newport. — Edward C. Peckham. 

Portsmouth. — Benjamin Tallman, John B.Cooke. 

Tiverton. — Stephen Crandall. 

LiTTLF.-CoMPTON. — Junia S. Mowry, Nathaniel Giflbrd, Joseph Coe, Simeon 
Bailey, Wm. S. Wood, Ezra Wilbor, Jotham Sexton, Gideon Gitlbrd, Allen 
Gifford, Wm. Howland, Stephen R. Howland, Samuel T. Burgess, Thomas 
Briggs. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Boston.— Samuel J. May, H. C. Chapman, H. E. Benson, J. E. Fuller, Jo- 
seph Southwick, William Lloyd Garrison. 

UxBBiDGE.—E. L. Capron, Edward Foster, William Capron, Royal South- 
wick. 

Salem. — C. P. Grosvenor. 

Danvers. — Isaac Winslow. 

Mendon. — Jonathan M. Shove, Amos Pitts, David Cushman, David Gush- 
ing, Collins Capron, Lyman C. Curtis, Amos W. Pitts, George G. Phelps. 



6 Proceedings uj the Conveniion. 

VVkentham.— Epliraim Farnsvvortli. Robert Blakc, L. Tullur, Aluscs Tlncii- 
cr, Joliii 8. W'liitc. 

rosBOKi).' — Timothy C Tingloy, Louis Shepard. 

iSuTTON. — Samuel 8hovc. 

Rehobotii. — Otis Thompson. 

Attlehouoitgii. — Cliailes Simmons, E. Godfrey, Samuel At.herton. 

IIoi.LisroN' — Orange Scott. 

F.4LI. RivF.R. — Harvey Chace, Edward Pratt, John Paul, Jcrvis Shove, Wm. 
B. French, Abraham Bowen, Israel Buffinton, L. II. Borden, Joseph Pierce, 
Talbot Jenckes, Andrew D. IMiiiie, Richard C. Freiicli. 

Belling HAM. —Lyman Holbrook. 

Hebuoxvili.f;. — Seba Kent. 

Seekonk. — Wm. Ellis. 

Pawtucket. — James Olney. James Lord. 

COiNNECTICUT. 

Scth Spanlding, Killingly ; Philip Scarborough, Brooklyn ; Lucian Burleigh, 
Flainlielil ; C. C. Burleigh, do. ; Albert F. Collins, JNorth-Stonington. 
NEW-HAMPSHIRE. 

George Storrs, Concord. 

NEW- YORK. 

Charles Stuart, England, via New-York; Amos A. Phelps, New- York ; Sim- 
con S. Jocelyn, do. ; Henry B. Stanton, do. 

George W. Benson, ffoni the comniiitee appointed to nominate 
Oflicers lor the Convention, reported as follows: 

rOR PRESIDENT, 

JOHN BROW N, East-Grecmvich. 

FOR VI02I-PRESIDE2JTS, 

JOHN BLAIN, Providence : 

JOHN JENCKES, Smithfidd ; 

JOHN G. CLARKE, South-Kimrstoivn ; 

WILLIAM REYNOLDS, North-Kingsiown. 

FOR SECRETiiRXES, 

GiLCEKT IxiciiMOND, Providiiice ; 
Aaron White, jun. Cumberland ; 
John R. Randolph, Froiidcncc ; 
William M. Chaci:. Providence. 

FOR TREASURER, 

WvLLYs Ames, Providence. 

The report was aeeepleil, and the genlleiiien named weii' mian- 
imously chosen. 

William I*. Newel, horn theeommiltee on rides and hiisiness, re- 
ported : 

Isl. 'L'JKil all connniltecs consist ol' seven meml)er>, and he ap- 
jioinleil hy the chair, mdess otherwise ordered. 

•id. That a connniltee he ap[)ointed to ilralt a Consliliilion lor 
I he Slate Anli-Slavery Society. 

'.h\.\. 'J'hal a committee he appoinKiil to diall a DeclaraliDii, and 
ai> Expose 1)1 the principle> and ohjecl^ ol ihi^ ( 'onvtnliun. 



Pfuceeduigs uj the Convtntwn. 7 

4ih. Tliat a committee be appointed to draft an Address to the 
professing Christians ol all denominations, in this State, on the sub- 
ject of Slavery. 

5th. That a committee be appointed to report on the bearings 
of the Constitution of the United States, on the subject of Slavery, 

6th. That a committee often be appointed to nominate Officers 
for a State Anti-Slavery Society. 

The report was accepted and adopted. 

Oa motion of Moses Thaclier, ordered, that all tiilci be omitted, 
in the proceedings of this Convention. 

The President appointed the following committees : 

1st. To draft a Constitution for a State Anti-Slavery Society — ■ 
Benjamin R. Allen, William Drown, Jacob D. Babcock, Cyrus P. 
Grosvener, Josiah Cady, jMoses Pierce and William Chace. 

2d. For a committee to draft a Declaration of Sentiments and 
an Expose of the principles and the objects of this Convention — ■ 
William Goodell, John G. Clarke, Jeremiah Smith, Amos A, 
Phelps, Stephen Smith, 2d, Smith Battey and Thomas P. Wells, 

3d. For a committee to draft an Address to the professing 
Christians of this State — John Blain, Ray Potter, Samuel Phillips, 
James Allen, Otis Thompson and Abial Fisher. 

4th. For a committee to report on the Constitution of the U. 
States — Aaron White, jun. William P. Newel, William Bullum, 
jun. Martin Robinson, Wells Reynolds and Asa Potter. 

5th. For a committee to nominate oflicers for a State Anti-Slavery 
Society — George W. Benson, Henry B. Stanton, Jeremiah S. 
Sherman, Joseph Coe, Reuben Morey, James Porter, Junia S. 
Movvry, Ephraim Stillman, Isaac Cundall and Edward Mason. 

Letters were received from William Lloyd Garrison, James T. 
Woodbury, of Massachusetts ; Elizur Wright, jun. Beriah Greene, 
Gerrit Smith, Theodore D. Weld, Lewis Tappan and Geo. Bourne, 
of New- York ; James G. Birney, of Ohio ; Hoxsie Perry and Jo- 
seph Stanton, of Charlestown, R. L and William Peckham and 
fifteen others, of South-Kingstown, apologizing for absence, and 
approving the objects of the Convention. [For letters, see Ap- 
pendix.] 

Benjamin Russell Allen, of Scitu ate, from the committee for that 
purpose, reported a draft of a Constitution for a State Anti-Slavery 
Society, which was adopted as follows : 

CONSTITUTION 
RHODE-ISLAND STATe'^'aNTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. 

PREAMBLE. 

We, the undersigned, in organizing ourselves into a Society for 
the extirpation of American Slavery, deem it proper to explain the 
motives that impel us to this high enterprise, and the grounds upon 
which we propose to co-operate for its accomplishment. 



8 Proctcdins^s of I he Convention. 

In the Oltl Testament, the orii^'in and unity of the human race 
are traced to a common stock : in the New, the equahty and dig- 
nity of tlie human race are clearly taught and upheld. ' So God 
created man in his own image, in the image of God created he 
him; male and female created he them.' 'For thou hast made 
him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory 
and honor.' ' And hath made of one blood all nations of men to 
dwell on all the face of the earth.' In Christ Jesus, there is nei- 
ther Jew nor Greek, neither bond nor free, but all are one.' The 
same duties and obligations are recjuired of all — the same standard 
is erected for all — the same judgment is to be set for all — the same 
eternity is to be shared by all ! 

For MAX, as the rejyrcsentative of his race, God created the 
heavens and the earth, and gave him dominion over the fish of the 
sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that 
movetli upon the earth. ' Thou has put all things under his feet.' 
For MAN, in his lost estate, sucli was the amazing price put upon 
him, that, to redeem him, God spared not his only begotten Son, 
who descended from heaven to die for the guilty rebel ! Hence, 
for human power to transform him into a beast, or to treat him as an 
article of merchandize, is not only a daring attempt to baffle the 
<dorious designs of the Most High, in man's creation and redemp- 
tion, but is in the most awful manner trampling under foot the Son 
of God, and doing despite to the Spirit of grace. 

The people of the United States profess to be a Christian nation 
— that is, Christ-like, followers of Jesus, whose precepts are, 'Love 
thy neighbor as thyself.' ' Whatsoever ye would that men should 
do to you, do ye even so to them.' ' Whosoever will be chief 
among vou, let him be your servant.' Yet, in sectional partitions, 
and by "conventional stipulations, they arc carrying on an extensive 
traffic in 'slaves and the souls of men' — holding in bondage, as 
goods and chattels, two millions and a half of their own 
couNTUYMEN — scizing and enslaving not less than eighty thou- 
sand INFANTS annually — withholding from the entire mass, with 
rare exceptions, the holy scrij)tures, and forbidding under severe 
])cnalties the acijuisition of knowledge — deriding the sanctity and 
destroying the inviolability of the marriage institution — cherishing a 
vast system of incest and pollution — and keeping back by fraud, the 
hire of the laborers who have reaped down their fields, uncompen- 
sated for more than two centuries — because of the accident of birth 
and the color of the skin of their victims ! 

The peo|)le of the United Stales profess to be a republican na- 
lion — that is, the asscrters unto blood of these great fundamental 
doctrines and ' self-evident truths,' viz. 'that all men are created 
ecjual ; that they are endowed by their Creator with ct;rlain una- 
lienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pui- 



Proceedings of tlif Converitionj 9 

iiiit of happiness.' Yet they reduce one-sixth poftion of theif' 
whole number to a level with the beasts of the field, and exercise 
towards them a tyranny incomparably more dreadful than the des- 
potisms of the old world ! 

Such is American Slavery — such the barbarous and horrible' 
system, which we shall aim to overthrow ! We deny that it is 
either unwise, or unkind, or unavailable, or unconstitutional for us 
to associate together for this object : not to do So, would evince un- 
pardonable ignorance, folly, slothfulness, or cruelty. To us, as 
Christians, ' the field is the world,' and there is no sin which we 
may not lawfully assail, or labor to subvert, in any part of the' 
globe. It is the requirement of God that we should speak against 
oppression, write against it, print against it, combine against it, in 
our country and in all countries. ' Open thy mouth for the dumb' 
in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy 
mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and 
needy.' No territorial divisions, no slate lines, no local provisions,' 
no national stipulations, no constitutional enactments, can change Or 
destroy this requirement. We may not, indeed, do evil that good 
may come, but we are bound to do good that evil may ceas^e. As' 
Christians, 'the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual, 
and mighty through God to the jjulling down' even of the strong 
holds of American slavery. In seeking the deliverance of our en-' 
slaved countrymen, we profess to be animated by a desire to estab= 
Ksh the liberty, equality and happiness of our race, to purify, exalt 
and perpetuate the union of our beloved country, to give free course' 
to the gospel of peace — -as well as to secure to ourselves and our' 
posterity, the right of locomotion, the liberty of speech, and of the' 
press, our propei'ty and personal safety, now abridged or put in peril 
by the existence of slavery. 

Deeply impressed, therefore, with these solemn and alarmmg 
considerations, and believing that the time has fully come for alf 
those w^ho fear God, love their country and their kind, and value 
their own rights and privileges, to unite together for the extirpation' 
of slavery from our soil, we unitedly adopt and agree to be governetP 
as a Society by the following 

CONSTITUTION. 

Article 1. This Society shall be called the Rhode-Islan^ 
State Anti-Slavery Society. 

Art. 2. The objectof this Society shall be to effect the peaceful/ 
righteous and immediate emancipation of our enslaved countrymen/ 
by moral and constitutional means, and according to the will of God; 
and to raise them to a rank befitting rational, accountable and im- , 
mortal beings ; and thus to save our own liberties fi-om the grasp o^ 
tyranny, and our country from the judgments of the Most High.-^ . 

Art. 3. Anv inhabitant of Rhode-Island, by subscribing^ W 



fO Proceedings of the Convention. 

name to this conslitiuiou, or requesting the Recording Secretary to 
append it, may become a member of this Society. All members 
of Auxiliary Societies, are, by virtue of such membership, in this 
Society. 

Art. 4. The officers of this Society shall be a President, ten or 
more Vice-Presidents, a Corresponding and a Recording Secretary, 
a Treasurer, an Auditor, and sixty or more Directors, who togeth- 
er shall constitute a Board of Managers, and ten of whom shall 
constitute a quorum. The Board of Managers shall at an annual 
meeting, select not less than ten nor more than twenty members 
of the Society, who with the Corresponding Secretary, Recording 
Secretary and Treasurer, shall constitute an Executive Committee. 
This committee shall hold stated meetings, make their own by-laws, 
fill any vacancies occurring in their body, employ agents, direct the 
Treasurer in the appropriation of monies, make arrangements for all 
the Society's meetings, manage its general concerns, and by all 
proper means aim to accomplish its objects. They shall at the an- 
nual meeting of the Society, present a written report of their doings 
— accompanied by an audited report from the Treasurer, of the in- 
come and expenditures of the Society, and the state of its funds. 
The other officers of the Society shall perform the duties usually 
appertaining to their respective offices. 

Art. 5. This Society shall hold an Annual Meeting on the 
second Wednesday in November in each year, at such place as the 
Executive Committee shall direct, at which time the officers of the 
Society shall be chosen. It shall also meet whenever notified by 
the Executive Coniinittee, they having given two weeks previous 
notice in at least two newspapers published in this State. 

Art. 6. Any Anti-Slavery Society or Association in this State, 
founded on the same principles, may become auxiliary to this Soci- 
ety, by sending: a copy of the Constitution, and a list of the ofticers, 
to the Recording Secretary. 

Art. 7. This Society shall be auxiliary to the American Anti- 
Slavery Society. 

Art. 8. This Constitution may be altered at any meeting of 
the Society, by a vote of two-thirds of the members present, pro- 
vided the amendments proposed, have been submitted to the 
Executive Committee in writing one month previous. 

The committee to nominate officers for a State Society, reported 
in part, and asked leave to sit again. Leave granted. [The whole 
report is given in another place.] 

Adjourned to half past nine o'clock to-morrow morning. 

VVfdnf.sdav Morninc, February 3. 
The Convention was railed to (irdrr by .John G. Clarke, one of 
the Vire-Pre«!idents. 



Proceedings of the Convention. 1 1 

Prayer by Thomas Williams, ofBarrin^ton. 

A letter from William Lloyd Garrison was read, which, together 
with all other letters from gentlemen excusing their absence, was 
ordered to be printed with t!ie proceedings of the Convention. 
[See Appendix.] 

The committee on the Declaration of Sentiments and an Expose 
of the principles and objects of the Convention, was called upon to 
report. 

William Goodell, the chairman of that committee, stated, that 
on account of the great length of those documents, with leave of the 
Convention, he should read but a part of them, and verbally give 
a brief summary of the whole. 

Ordered, That the Report be accepted, and the documents re- 
ferred to the Executive Committee of the State Society. 

William L. Garrison having unexpectedly to himself and others, 
arrived, and his name -being enrolled with the Delegates from the 
Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, the President invited him to 
a seat with the Convention. 

The Convention was addressed by Orange Scott, William L. 
Garrison and Samuel J. May, of Massachusetts, and William Good- 
ell, of R. Island. 

On motion of Moses Thacher, seconded by William L. Garrison, 
voted, that a copy of the report last read be sent to the heads of de- 
partments and all the members of Congress. 

Voted, That the Convention do now adjourn to half past two 
o'clock this afternoon. 

Wednesday Afternoon. 

Convention called to order by the President. 

The Constitution of the State Society was read, and liberty giv- 
en to any who wished, to sign it. Nearly three liundred gentlemen 
affixed their names. 

George W. Benson, from the committee on the nomination of 
officers.for the State Society, made a final report, which was adopt- 
ed as a whole, as follovv's ; 

JOHN G. CLARKE, South-Kingsiown. 

JAMES EAMES, Prui^ldence ; 
JOB ARMSTRONG, Glocestcr ; 
JOHN JENCKES, SmUhfuld; 
JOHN BROWN, East- Greenwich ; 
PELEG CLARKE, Coventry; 
THOMAS R. WELLS, South- Kingstown ; 
WILLIAM REYNOLDS, North-Kingstown; 
WILLIAM PECKHAM, South- Kingstoim; 



}? 



Officers of the State Society. 



HOXSIE PERRY, Charlestoian j 
THOMAS WILLIAMS, Barringlon ; 
JOTHAM SEXTON, Little- Compton ; 
GEORGE C. SHAW, Newport. 

HEOORDING- SECRETARY, 

WILLIAM DROWN, Providence. 

0ORRESPONBXNG SECRETARY, 

HENRY B. STANTON, Providence. 

TREASURER, 

DAVID ANDREWS, Providence. 

AUDITOR, 

SIMON H. GREENE, Providence. 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 



Providence : 
Henry Gushing, 
John Prentice, 
George W. Benson. 

North-Providence 
James Anthony,* 
Ray Potter, 
H. B. Drown, 
Edward Mason. 

Burrillville . 
Smith Battey, 
il. K. Wpbster. 

Smithjicld :■ 
Jeremiah Smith, 
Edward C. Cranston, 
Samuel B. Harris, 
Reuben Morey, 
William S. Slater. 

Cumberland : 
Aaron White, Jr. 
George Stone, 
Alexander Ballou. 

Gloccster : 
Job Armstrong, 
Pexter S. Pheitiplace. 

Foster : 
Nehemiah Knight, 
George Davis. 



Scituate :■ 
George W. Tyler, 
George J. Adams, 
Jeremy Potter. 

Johnston . 
Nathaniel Sweet. 

Cranston : 
Daniel Baker, 
Abial Fisher. 

East- Greenwich .■ 
Silas Weaver, 
JNIoses Pierce, 
James Porter. 

Warwick .- 
Robert W. Potter, 
Cyril Babcock, 
Stephen G. Hopkins. 
Coventry : 
Oren Spencer, 
Jabez Anthony, 
Caleb Kilton. 

South-Kingstown 
Asa Potter, 
A. C. Wilbur, 
Edward H. Hazard, 
Jeremiah S. Sherman. 

North- Kingstown 
Joseph W. Allen, 
John Hall 



* BiBc* d«c«t«td 



Proceedings of the Convention 



J3 



Richmond : 
Wells Reynolds, 
Joshua Lock. 

Charlcstoivn : 
.Joseph Cross, 
George A. Stanton, 

Hopkinton : 
Jacob D. Babcock, 
William Stillman, Jr. 
Thomas Clarke. 

Westerly ; 
William Stillman, 
Stephen Smith, Jr. 
Jonathan Maxson. 

Bristol : 
William Manchester. 

Barrington : 
Ebenezer Tiffany, 
Allen Bicknell. 

Newpor-t • 
Arthur A. Ross, 



William H. Read, 
John Pratt. 

Portsmouth ; 
Christopher Barker, 
John B. Cooke. 

Jamestown : 
Oliver Hopkins. 

Tiverton : 
Stephen Crandall, 
Abraham Peirce. 

JMiddlctown ; 
Joseph Anthony. 

Little- Compton 
Lemuel Sisson, 
Thomas Burgess, 
Junia S. Movvry, 
Nathaniel GifFord. 

Ne w- Shoreham 
John S. Dill, 
William A. Weeden. 



On motion of Wyllys AmGs, 

Resolved, That an eft'ort be made to raise by voluntary subscription (wo 
thousand dollars, to be expended by (he Society the coming year, in dis- 
seminating our principles by publishing the doings of the Convention, and 
by such other means as to the Executive Committee may seem advisa-? 
ble. 

The resolution was seconded, with remarks by William Goodell 
and Henry B. Stanton, and passed unanimously. 

A subscription was immediately commenced, and more than two 
thousand dollars were pledged before the Convention rose. 

Adjourned to half past six o'clock this evening. 

Evening Session. 

Called to order by the President, and opened with prayer by 
Charles P. Grosvenor, of Kingston. 

During the day, the sessions of the Convention had been very 
fully attended ; — but in the evening, the house was crowded to 
overflowing. 

George Storrs of New-Hampshire introduced the following reso- 
lution : — 

Resolved, That the people of the Norlh, as citizens and as Christiana, 
have something to do with American slavery. 

Mr. S. addressed the Convention for about half an hour in sup- 
port of the resolution, in a powerful address. 

William S. Wood, of Little-Compton, offered the following reso-: 
lution, which was on motion relerred to the Executive Committee 
*f the State Society, to wit : 



14. Proceeding's of the Convention. 

Resolved, lliat this Convention appoint a committee to icceivi; iuui trans- 
nil to the seat oi .government the petitions lor the abolition of Slavery in 
he District of Columbia. 

William Goodell, of Providence, oftered the following resolutions, 
.vhich he ably supported. 

1. Voted, I'hat we grafelully appreciate the sacrifices to ihs cause of 
r«//j, nvide by our brother William Lloyd Garrison, and, believinj? that 
o maintain in vigor and purity the power of rebuke, demands moral cjual- 

ities of the rarest order, for which i<, is utterly fruitless to seek substitutes; 
we commend the Liberator to all (he advocates of Christian freedom and 
Christian principles. 

2. That it is desirable to raise 3U0 dollars in Rhode Island for the su[)- 
jioil of the Liberator the current year. 

^3. That the disinterested sacriiices and jjerseverinp; labors of Isaac 
Knapn, publisher of the Liberator, enlitic him to the thanks and support 
of the friends of liie slave. 

4. That an advocate of liberty and free discussion is needed in llhode- 
Islan.l, and tliat we therefore rejoice in the proposals of Elder Pay Potter 
for publisliingthe Pawtucket Record and Free Discussion Advocate. 

5. That we highly appreciate the liberality and enterprise of the 
American Anti-Slavery Society in not only furnishing the people of this 
State with an efficient Agent, but in supplying them with a large emission 
of their periodical publications at a time v.hen they were much needed, 
and when little money could be raised among us lor their support. 

(i. That the establishment of the " Phil.'VNthropist," as an Anti-Sla- 
very paper at New Richmond in Ohio, by the disinterested and lalented 
James G. Rirney, la'e of Kentucky, and recently a slave-holder, should 
be regarded as one of the most cheering indications of the times; and calls 
for the cordial support and devout gratitude of tiic friends of freedom. 

On motion of Mv. May, supported hy able remarks, 

Resolved, That the jiast year has been prolific of events which have 
proved the charges alleged by abolitionists against our beloved but guilty 
country, have satisfied us that we have laid the axe at the ro'it of the tree 
of evil; have revealed the importance which the Anti-Slavery enterprise 
has already attained in the regard of the whole nation ; and which should 
encourage us to ])er3evere, still putting our trust and confidence in llie 
truth and grace of Almighty God. 

Simeon S. Jocelyn addressed the Con\ention on the subject ol 
the doings of the American Anti-Slavery Society, and the means 
used by that Society to attain its objects. 

Agreeably to a previous resolution, the Convention adjourned to 
jneet Thursday morning at half past 9 o'clock. 

Thursday Morning, Feb. 4. 

Convention was called to order at iialf past 9 o'clock, A. M. by 
John G. Clarke, Vice-President. 

Prayer by Moses Tiiacher, of North-^Vrentham, Mass. 

Ray Potter, from the committee for that purpose, reported an 
nddress to the professing Christians of this State. 

Samuel .1. May, one of the committee, at the request of the 
chairman, staled that the committee wish the report to be again 
committed to them for revision, 



Proceedings of the Convention. l.^ 

Moses Thacher, of North-Wrentham, ofiered the following reso- 
lutions, which, after discussion, in which the mover, Cyrus P. 
Grosvenor, William Goodell and others took part, were adopted : 

1. That the people have a ri^'lit to expect of the ministers of Christ, 
that they will cheerluUy engage in the work ol' abolition, and to call uport 
them to proclaim the truth on this subject, as those who are bound to "de- 
clare all the counsel of God." 

2. That so far as moral means nrc concerned, the system of American- 
Slavery is now sustained chiefly through the influence of the pulpit. 

Charles Stuart then submitted the following resolution, ^to wit : 
That the best means oi' preserving the peace -muI of securing the safety 
of the South, would be to allow the slaves freely to be informed of «W the 
principles and proceedings of the Anti-Slavery Societies ; and to give the 
abolitionists /ree access to them. 

After some very ap])ropriate remarks, the resolution was adopted.- 
On motion, the Convention adjourned to 2 o'clock. 

Thursday Afternoon, 2 P. M . 

The Convention assembled — the President in the chair. 

On motion of Henry B. Stanton, the following resolutions were' 
passed unanimously : 

Resolved, — That the right of Congress lo abolish slavery and the slave 
trade in the District of Columbia is indisputable, and that every conside- 
lation of justice, humanity, patriotism and religion, demands the exercise 
of that right in thpir immediate and entire abolition. 

Resolved, — That the executive committee of the State Society be re- 
quested to forward the petitions to Congress from this State, accompanied 
by a letter to our Senators and Repre,entalives in that body, requesting 
them to support the prayer of the petitioners. 

Ordered, — That the Executive Committee of the State Society and the 
secretaries of this Convention, be a commitee to revise and publish the do- 
ings of this Convention. 

Resolved, — That this Convention rejoice at the efforts made by the fe- 
males of this country in the cause of emancipation, and earnestly invite 
the aid of the females of Rhode-Island to efiectuate the overthrow of a' 
system which robs more than one iiiillion of wives, mothers, sisters and^ 
daughters of their rights, and denies to them the protection ol law. 

Resolved, — That the aid so effectually rendered to the cause of eman- 
cipation by the Providence and Pawtucket Juvenile Female Anti-Slavery 
Societies is worthy of all imitation, and we cordially invite our juvenile 
friends through the state, to co-operate with us in abolishing a system- 
which annually robs more than 80,000 mothers of their new born infants, 
sinks them to the level of brutes, and consigns them over to ho})eless de- 
gradation, desolate and heart-broken. 

[The Providence Juvenile Female Anti-Slavery Society, dur- 
ing the past year, raised and paid over ninety dollars to aid the' 
cause of ennancipation ; — and for the coming year, they have pledg- 
ed to pay into the treasury of the Rhode-Island State Anti-Slav- 
ery Society 07ie hundred dollars. The Society has between thirty 
and forty members, — average age of the members, twelve years.- 
The money has been raised mostly by sewing. 

The Pawtucket Juvenile Society has pledged twenty-five dol- 
lars to the funds of the State Society for the coming year.] 



i6 Proceedings of the Convention; 

Charles C. Burleigh offered the Ibllouiiig resolutions, which/ 
after remarks by the mover, by Cyrus P. Grosvener, William L. 
Garrison, John Prentice, Simeon S. Jocelyn and others, were unan- 
imously adopted : 

Resolved, Tliat this Convention \viiits with (he utmost solicilude to 
hoar of the safe arrival of our beloved brother, Geofge Thompson, in 
Enuiland ; that it regards his labors in this country as having been signally 
rnstrutnenlal in advancing the holy cause of universal emancipation among 
us; that emotions of love and giaiitude (ill our hearts towards him ; that 
we thank and bless our British abolition brethren, for having sent him to 
our shore, and that we blush for our country to think, that he has been 
compelled by piiblic ferociousness, to return to those who sent him hither. 

Resolved, That this Convention tenders its a(fec(iona(e regard to our 
trans-atlanlic brother, Charles Stuart; and that it welcomes him to 
a share in all the toils, perils, sufferings and triumj)hs of the Anti-Slaveiy 
cause. 

On motion of Simeon S. Jocelyn, the following resolution was 
cordially adopted : 

Resolved, That as the free colored people among us are the jieculiar rep 
resentativfis of the slaves, and suffer many disabilities, that we will;;rot'e 
ctir love for the slave, by our efforts for the improvement of the free peo- 
ple of color, in morals, cducatiim and the useful arts, and by our treatment 
of them as men and (ellow-citizens. 

On motion of Henry B. Stanton, 

Resolved, That the thanks of this Convention are cordially tendered to 
the High-Slreet C<in>;regational Society, for the use of their meeting-house, 
for the session of this Con\cntion. 

Ordered, That (he Secre(aries furnish the standing committee of said 
Society with a co|)y of the above resolution. 

Resolved, That the Executive Committee of the State Society, with the 
Secretaries o( this Convention, be a committee to re\ise and pulilish the 
jtrocecdings of the Convention, in such (orm as they shall deem proper. 

The meetings of the Convention were generally fully attended, 
and occasionaHy the house was crowded to overflowing. Its har- 
monious and delightfid proceedings will long be held in grateful 
remembrance by its mcm):K?rs, 

The business being completed, after uniting in a fervent prayer 
with Charles Stuart, the Convention adjourned, sine. die. 



JOHN BROWN, President. 
JOHN BLAIN, 
JOHN JENCKES, 
JOHN G. CLARKE, 
WM. REYNOLDS, 
Aaron Wiuti:, jiui. 

GiLBEUT RkMMON,), ^ S,,,,t„,i,,, 

John K. Kani>om'h, 
William M. Ciiaci:, 



Vice-Presidents.- 



DECLARATION AND EXPOSE. 



TO THE PEOPLE OF RHODE-ISLAND 

The Convention assembled at Providence, Feb. 2, 1836, for the pur- 
pose of forming a Rhode-Island State Anti-Slavery Society, respectfully 
invite the attention of their fellow -citizens to the following Declaration 
and Expose of the principles they cherish as fundamental, oi the facta 
which impel them to action, of the objects they propose to accomplish^ 
and of the measures they intend to pursue. 

I. PRINCIPLES.— Human Rights. 

We recognize the inherent, eternal, and unalterable distinction and op- 
position between right and wrong; the rectitude and supreme authority 
of God's law ; the mutual obligations and corresponding duties and rights 
of all moral beings. 

We believe that all men are capable of discerning that distinction, of 
obeying that Z«?« ; of perceiving those ohligaiioiis, oi discharging thosR 
duties, and of enjoying those rights. 

We believe all these positions for the same reasons which j'mpel us to 
believe either of them : because their evidence rests on the same basis, 
and the one, of necessity, involves (he otiier. 

We believe them, because we believe that all men are free moralagents; 
because God, the Bible, and their own consciences hold them responsible 
for their actions, because their Creator has placed them under moral law; 
and because he prohibits every invasion of their rights. 

We hold human rights to be inalienable; because their corresponding 
duties are unchanging; because moral qualities are indelible; because the 
human soul is immortal; because the law of God is irrepealable; because 
the throne of God is immovable : — because the Sovereign Benefactor 
who ordained and conferred them is not man that he should lie, or the son 
of man that he should repent. 

The Magna Charta of these rights we peruse in the sacred scriptures — 
their signet we see enstamped upon every son of Adam — their evidence 
we feel interwoven in the very fibres ol our own existence. — Their denial 
we conceive to be a denial of the law and of the gospel — a libel upon hu- 
man nature, and a blasphemy against Him who created man in his own 
image. 

We believe that 'God iias made of one blood all nations': — that 'he is 
no respecter of persons' — that ' if we have respect to persons we commit 
sin.' — Every man, therefore, we consider as having a claim to the equal 
and just regards of his fellow man. That claim we find enforced by the 
impartial and perfect law : — " T!)ou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself — 
Whatsoever ye would that men should do unlo you, do ye even so unto 
them.'" — As God has created all men equal, as he equally regards them, 
and as he commands them equally to regard each other, wc hold it de- 
monstrably certain that he regards ll>em all as possessing equal rights, nn<3 

8 



j 8 Dechuation and Expose. 

as being essentially equal in tlie attributes which constitute them the sub- 
jects anil the objects of moral law. 

The right to obey God rather than man — the riglit of doing right and of 
refusing to do wrong, we recognize as the cardinal right of human nature, 
whic!) includes all other rights. We hold these rights to be as ' exceeding 
broad' and as indestructible as the divine commandments by which they 
are guarded, as universal as the moral agency upon which they are founded. 

" The liberty to know, to utter, to argue freely, according to the dic- 
tates of conscience," wc prize " above all liberties." — Without i/u's, the 
inalienable right to ' /(/e' would be worthless, to ' libcrUf unmeaning, to 
' the pursuit of happiness' unavailing. 

We claim these rights, not as derived from conventional stipulations 
with our fellow men; not as conferred by the good pleasure of all or of 
any portion of them; not as immunities which might have been withheld, 
or which may be annulled. We claim them as parts of our human nature, 
which cannot be separated from us. We claim them as the irrevocable 
gift of our Creator, whose veracity is pledged to maintain them, whose re- 
quirements forbid us to renounce the exercise of them; and whose own 
omnipotence, (v.ith reverence be it spoken) could not, in the nature of the 
case, take them from us, without repealing the law of our moral agency 
or reducing us to our primitive nothing. 

We claim these rights for ourselves, and consecjuently for all men. — We 
claim them on the ground of our common human nature. — We claim them 
because we are men, not because we arc Americans ; or Europeans, or 
Asiatics, or Africans. — We claim them because we sustain the responsi- 
bilities which recjuire their exercise, not because our fathers successfully 
resisted certain encroachments upon them. We claim them as ?7!CJi, not 
as rich men, or as poor men : — as 7ncnj not as learned or as unlearned 
men : — as men ; not as tall men, or as short men, not as weighing a certain 
number of pounds avoirdupois : — as men ; not as having straight hair, or 
crisped hair; or blue eyes or black eyes, or as being white, or red, or olive, 
or tawny, or brown, or sable, in our complexions! — We claim them as 
men, not as " men of property and standing" : — as men ; not as laborers, 
still less, as idlers! 

We claim these rights for all men ; because, having claimed them for 
ourselves, tlie golden rule of righteousness requires us to do so. We 
claim \hem for all 7nen, because wc would iiave all men claim them /or ks. 
We claim them for all men, and especially for all our own countrymen, 
because experience and common sense unitedly indicate the folly and fu- 
tility of claiming our oivn rights, without including in our claim the rights 
of our neighbors. 

We assert these rights, by asserting the equity of that Divine Law 
which forbids every conceivable infringement of them — which treats men 
as possessing the attributes from which they are evidently inseparable — 
which every where <;alls them into constant and active exercise — and 
wliich never permits, in any rase, ' the burial of them in a napkin.' 

Wc fortify these positions by remembering tlial llic sophists who apolo- 
gize for des]/utic power, have always delighted to confound moral distinc- 
tions* — that the writers who have derided the binding force of all human 
and divine laws, have been careful to maintain that " man possesses no 
absolute rights.''^ We readily infer the doctrine to be true which tyrants, 
skeptics, and anarchists would have us disbelieve : — the disbelief of which 
converted France into a Bastile, and then drenched her m blood ; — the 
practical denial of which /iti our own country, has already enlisted lawless 
outrage in the support of unrighteous law, and now threatens by additional 

* e. e Ifttmr — • o. «. doilicin. 



DcdanUwii and Expose. 19 

striilcs" of despotic legislation to secoiul the eflbrts ol iiisuncctioii and riot. 

We find proof of inalienable human rights in the fact tiiat those who de- 
ny their inviolable sanctity, deny equally the paramount authority ol the 
Divine Law — that those who plead necessity and expediency to justily 
their infringements of the one, plead equally the same excuses for their 
violations of the other. 

VVc find the denial of these rights to involve a denial of all rights, for if 
men possess no inalienable rights, they possess none which it is not law- 
ful for human governments to invade; and a right held only by sufl'erance 
becomes a mere privilege, and is no longer a right. 

Hence, we find the denial of these rights to involve a palpable self-con- 
tradiction; since those who invade inalienable rights unanimously claim 
for themselves the inalienable right of doing so ! The inalienable right 
of men to hold slavis is distinctly claimed in denying that government pos- 
sesses the right to abolish slavery.* We see no escape from the absurdity 
involved in this claim, unless it can be shown that man possesses but one 
inalienable right, to wit, the right of slave-holding : that is — the right of 
trampling under foot all the rights of his equal neighbor, and lording it 
over Creation ! 

If the attributes of our CGminon humanity do not invest us with these 
rights, then surely in vain do we look for the foundation ol' miij rights in 
those comparatively trivial and unimportant circumstances which distin- 
guish one man from another. So that the evidence of equal rights in all 
men is as perfect as the evidence of any rights in any man. 

If men by nature have no rights, then governments instituted by men, we 
apprehend, can possess none. And we find no Divine ordinance of civil 
government which does not rest upon the basis of that Divine Law which 
guards the equal and inherent rights of all men. So that the huinan Gov- 
ernment that denies inalienable human rights, denies every foundation of 
its own authority. 

Human Governments, we conceive, can neither originate nor annul in- 
alienable human rights ; on the other hand, they are instituted by God 
and man, for the sole purpose of proclaiming and protecting them. 

The inequality of men's acquired rights, confirms, instead of weakening 
the proof that their inherent and inalienable rights are equal. Men enjoy 
unequal possessions because they acquire them, and have an inalienable 
right to their earnings. They hold unequal stations for similar reasons. 
And every man's right to his own; is founded on the equal claim of every 
other man to his own. 

We consent to no compromise of these rights, from considerations of 
supposed e.T;)e(fienci/ ; because expediency is not the rule oi right; be- 
cause the right can never be compromised without the commission of 
wrong; — because to suffer civil government to sacrifice moral right 
is to suffer it to commit sin: because God himself, in the highest ex- 
ercise of his Sovereignty, as absolute and sole proprietor and ruler of the 
universe, never compromises moral right, nor authorizes any human gov- 
ernment to do so ; because the admission that government may compro- 
mise human rights for ' reasons of state' or considerations of expediency, is 
to invest government with unlimited power ; since the government, being, 
of course, its own judge of expediency, must be the sole judge of its own 
power, and that, too, under the express stipulation that moral right shall 
not define its boundary I Because (he suspension of these rights on fluc- 
tuating circumstances, often beyond the control of their possessor, and 
always under the adjudication of others, amounts to their utter abrogation: 

' iSpeech of Mr. Robertson of Virginia, m the U. S. House of Renftsentatives, 
December 22, 1835. 



20 Declaration and Expose. 

iJecause it is a dangerous and impious fallacy to suppose thai it can ever 
be expedient under the Government of God, to do tcrong ; or to imagine 
that gain is gudHyiess and advantage, virtue ; — or to forget that godliness 
only can be ultimate gain, — or to set up our short siglited calculations of 
expediency in opposition to the laws and the declarations, the promises and 
the threatenings of the Omniscient and Hoi.y One. 

We find no compromise of these rights in the dispensations of God's 
Providence, as recorded in the annals of past ages : — In the banishment oi 
Cain, the fiist violator ol' human rigiits, " lor his mercy endureth forever." 
In the destruction of the Anledeluvians who ' tilled the earth with vio- 
lence," " for his mercy endureth forever": — In the overthrow of Pharaoh 
and his hosts in the Red Sea, "for his mercy endureth forever": — In the 
terrible punishment of his own chosen peo})le, when they ' turned aside 
the stranger from his righf — " for his mercy endureth forever." — In the 
righteous retributions visited upon oppressors in all subsequent periods — 
"for his mercy" to mankind, in the vindication of their inalienable rights, 
" endureth forever"!* 

We read these rights in the vivid lightnings of Sinai, — we trace them in 
every specification of the decalogue — in the awful warnings of the proph- 
ets — in the severer reproofs of the Saviourj — in the faithful testimony of 
the ApostlesJ — in the prophetic denunciations of the Apocalypse. || 

If men had by nature no rights, or if th.eir tenure were less sacred, we 
might perceive less importance in the treatment man receives from man — 
less solemnity in the judicial scrutiny that awaits his conduct to his broth- 
er. But in the contemplation oi' man's inalienable rights, we learn to esti- 
mate the guilt of transgressing the Divine law that prefects them — we un- 
derstand the necessity of man's redemption — the meaning of a coming 
judgment — the import of a future retribution. Our jirinciples of liberty 
form a part of our principles of religion, and we exult in the assurance that 
" where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." 

Such are the puinciples by which >ve are guided. We hold them to 
be true " in the abstract,'' because universally binding- IN PRACTICE. 
If they might ever be violated with innocence, the assertion ol their «/)- 
stract truth \\ou\d he a practical falsehood. In (iiscarding the principle 
— or rather the ivant of princijile — which makes CTpediencij the measure of 
duty, we repudiate of course, the absurdity which holds it practically 
right, to do that whicli "in the abstract" is morally wrong! 

II. FACTS.— Slaveuy. 

Of all these fundamental principles of righteousness and liberty, the 
system of American Slave-holding, we find to be a palpable and daring 
infraction. It violates every precept of the moral law : it contradicts ev- 
ery principle of the gospel : it sireeps away every inalioiable right. In its 
theory and its jiractice it is the concentration of iniquity ; the ultimate ex- 
treme of despotism; surpassing and including all other conceivable and 
recorded oppressions. 

We learn precisely what the system is, by an examination of its ou-n 
code, and cannot err in supposing it to be the very thing which its own 
legislators have declared it to be. " No people have ever been found to 
be belter than their laws, thouu^h many have been known to be worse. "§ 

Slave Cope. 

The Slave System, as established and defined by its own code, we find 
lo consist essentially in the assumed right of man to hold absolute property 
in man — to transform moral bi ings into mere things — chattels personal — 
human brulen .' In other words, the right of man to take away every con- 
ceivable right of his equal brother ! 

" See I'ltahn 136. i Mutt, xxiii. Chap. ,* Ji\nie«. v. Chiip. || Rev. xviii. IS 
\ Prifstl^y. 



Declaration and Expose. 21 

•' Goods they are," says the civil code, " and goods shall they be es- 
teemed''* — " A slave is one who is in the power oi his master to whom he 
belongs"! — " The cardinal principle of Slavery tliat the Slave is not to be 
ranked among sentient beings, but among things, as an article of property, 
a chattel personal, obtains as undoubted law in all the American Slave 
States"! — " Slaves shall be deemed sold, taken, and reputed to be chat- 
tels personal in the hands of their owners, and possessors, their executors, 
administrators and assigns, to all intents, constructions and pur-poses what- 
soei'cr.''|| " This dominion of the master is as unlimited as that which is 
tolerated by the laws of any civilized community in relation to brute ani- 
mals, to ' quadrupeds,' to use the words of tlie civil la\v.''§ 

Such is the fundamental principle of the American Slave Code. With 
a horrible self-consistency this principle is carried out, in all the details of 
slave legislation. For example : 

1 . As absolute property, the Slave is bought and sold, like other chattels. 
Therefore it is enacted that " Slaves are not entitled to the conditions ol 
matrimony" — they "cannot even contract matrimony ."IT And thus 
the fifth and seventh commandments are blotted out, and the family condi- 
tion abrogated. The husband has no claim to the society of the wile — 
nor the wife to the faithfulness and protection of the husband — the parent 
has no claim to the obedience of the child, nor the child to the protection, 
instruction and care of the parent. They are all under the absolute con- 
trol of another, who can separate them at pleasure. 

2. As the absolute property oi another, the Slave receives no wages for 
his labor — he can earn nothing that does not belong" to his master — he can 
make no contract — he can neither hold nor inherit property. 01 course his 
earnings cannot be tendered to his master lor his ransom. He holds no 
proprietorship in the force of his own arm or t!ie skill of his own intellect. 
All belongs to the master. He is fed as a beast is fed, at the option of his 
master, and merely to sustain his existence. A peck of corn a week is the 
lega\ provision of some States to prevent short feeding! 

3. As a mere laboring animal, the intellect and moral nature of the 
slave are not entitled to the benefits of education and Christian instruction. 
" The having of slaves taught to read or write" is prohibited as inconsis- 
tent with their condition.** " JMeetings and asstmiblages of slaves and 
free negroes, for teachi ig them reading or writing" are declared " unlaw- 
ful assemblies" to be dispersed and avenged with " corporal punish- 
ment ''ft "Assemblies — -for mental instruction, "|J are punished with 
"twenty lashes." — " Aiiy person that teaches any person of color» slave 
or free, to read or write," is punished by fine, imprisontnent and whip- 
ping. |||| This enactment was specially levelled at Sunday Schools, for 
teaching to read the Bible I — " No congregation of negroes shall under 
any pretence of divme icorship assemble themselves, &c."§§ " It shall 
not be lawful for any number of slaves, &c. even in company with white 
persons, to meet together and assemble for the purpose of mental instruc- 
tion and religious icorship, either before the rising of the sun or the going 
down of the same. "TT'r These enactments are neither obsolete, nor, (as 
their dates show) occasioned by modern excitements. 

4. Being held as mere property, the slave has no real legal protection, in 
life and limb, except such protection as is extended to the domestic animal 

*" Taylor's Elements, p. 429. t Code of Louisiana, Art. 35, Stroud, p. 22. 
t Stroud, p. 22. || Law of S. Carolina, vide Stroud, p. 22-3. 2 Brev. Dig. 229. 
Prince's Digest, 446. § Stroud, p. 24. IT Stroud, p. 61, 21 ** Statute of S. 
Carolina, A. D. 1740, Stroud, p. b'S. tt Revised Code of Va. A. D. 1819, 
Stroud, 89. |t Statute of S. Carolina, A. D. 1600, Stroud, p. 89. |||| City Ordi- 
nance of Savannah, A. D. 1818, Stroud, p. 90. §§ Law of Georgia, A. D. 
1792, Prince's Digest, p. 342, Stroud, p. 92. 1111 Law of S. Carolina. 1800. 2 
Brev. Digest, 354-5, Stroud, 93. 



22 Declaration and Expose 

whose owner may sue for damages. The show of legal protection is made 
a nidlity, by countervailing legislation. Legal protection of mere "goods 
and chattels" from the power of tiie absolute owner, is a self-contradic- 
tion. Hence slaves are allowed no jury trial. No colored witnesses arc 
allowed to testify, against any white person. Absconding slaves may be 
proclaimed outlaws for trifling oO'ences. The laws assume that the death 
of a slave may take place by " moderate correction," in which case the 
murderer goes free.* And no slave is allowed in self-defence, to lift a fin- 
ger against any white person, on pain of deatli. Even the laws ostensibly 
framed to prevent cruelties, enumerate certain punishments which they 
call "cruel," and yet authorize; such as "beating with a horse-whip, cow- 
skin, switch or stick, putting irons on, confining and imprisoning" ! The 
same statutes bear testimony to the prevalence of the cruelties they pro- 
hibit — such as " cutting out the tongue, putting out the eyes, scalding, 
burning, depriving the slave of any limb or member," and other outrages 
too gross to be named except in the Slave Code.t No slave holding Le- 
gislature, we are assured, would ever have scandalized its statute books 
willi such enactments, unless they had been needed. Such are some of the 
facts embodied in the slave code. 

The claim of absolute proprietorship, on the part of the slave holder, un- 
der a code which expressly makes the slave entirely subject to the will of 
his master, and deems him 'chattels personal, to all intents, constructions, 
and purposes whatsoever,' is, in itself, a claim of absolute despotism over 
the slave ; a claim of the right to dethrone the God of the slave, and reign 
as a god in his stead. It is saying to tiie slave, as the slave code, in effect, 
says — ' Thou shall have no other God before' tliy master ! Wc hold such 
a claim to be impious and criminal, in itself, independently of the manner of 
its exercise. No man can be a slave holder nitiioul making tiiis claim, 
and sustaining the code that sanctions it: No man can be a slaveholder 
witliout claiming the rit^Iit of infringing every right of his neigiibor! The 
claim itscll is an injury lor which no ' kind treatment' can compensate. 

The slave code infringes likewise the rights of l\\c free : by presuming 
every colored person to be a slave unless he can prove his freedom by 
white witnesses : by enactments, (even in free states) by whicli persons 
claiming to be free maybe adjudged into slavery, without a jury trial . and 
with less solemnity of form, in some of our northern cities, than would be 
recpiisife to establish a title to a sheep or a swine. A wliite skin and an 
unmixed European descent have not always proved an adequate protection 
against the operation of these Imvs, for many persons held as slaves and ad- 
vertised as fugitives, are described as " ha\ing strait hair, and as being of 
so light a complexion, as to be mistaken for while people !" And persons 
of color, in the slave states, may be sold into perpetual slavery, with their 
posterity forever, for the non-payment of petty tines exacted by vexatious 
laws. Free citizens of the Ireu states, wlicn traveling at the Soutii, are 
lial)le to these seizures, in defiance of the Letter and Spirit of the National 
Constitution. 

The slave code, moreover, annuls freedom of speech and of the press, 
and mfiingcs the most sacred riglits of conscience, in thc/rce while people 
of the South. This is done by cnacmcnts specially levelled against any 
practical discussion of inalienable human rights; enactments which punish 
"by imjuiiionment or death, at the discretion of the court, any person 
who from the box, bench, stage, pulpit, or in any other place, or in con- 
versation, shall make use of any language, signs, or actions, having a ten- 
dency to produce discontent among free colored people, or insubordination 

" Laws of'N. (Jiirolinu, Haywood's Mtuiuul, r>3l) — Laws of Tonn. A. D. !/!>!• 
— Confiiitulion of (icoigia. An. -1, See. 1^. I Law of South Carolina, A. D. 
1710, llrnvnrd'K Digr.st. QW. Stroud, ]). fit. 



Declaration and Expose. 2S 

among slaves."* We seldom hear any testimony against slavery, from 
the South, because, in respect to the noblest and best of all libeities — the 
liberty to speak out the honest cosivictions of conscience — the tchite vian 
of the South is as really a slave as the colored man. 

This is slavery — not as pourtrayed by its enemies, but by its friends — 
its legislators. This is slavery itself — not its abuses, nor its incidents, nor 
its consequences. 

Effects of Slavery. 

The effects of slavery are not less dreadful and appalling. About one 
sixth part of the American people, and a much larger ])roporlion of the la- 
boring population, are held as slaves under this code. They number about 
2,250,000, and are increasing at a ratio of about 80,000 a year. There is 
reason to believe that more than 30,000 of these slaves are torn fronr their 
homes and families every year, and sold from the Atlantic to the South 
Western Slave States. "Instead of removing whole families and gangs of 
negroes, the dealers, for the most part, according to their own advertise- 
ments, select individuals " of both sexes, from twelve to twenty-five 
years. "t The District of Columbia, under the exclusive jurisdiction of 
Congress, has been chosen by the slave dealers as their princij)al slave 
mart, and, this in consequence ot Congressional legislation which gives pe- 
culiar facilities to the tratiic, not enjoyed in the adjacent slave states. 
This is the "domestic slave trade." In no important particular is the Ameri- 
can slave trade less cruel and demoralizing than the African. J In one fea- 
ture it transcends in atrocity every description of slave traffic known 
among men. The most lucrative business of the planter in the Atlantic 
States, is the regular breeding of slaves for sale. And it is too notorious 
for contradiction, that the produce of the plantation destined lor a distant 
market consists often in the sons and daughters of the owner : the superior 
price of the mixed race operating as a bounty upon a tcicked and adulte- 
rous amalgamation. 

Slavery by degrading one sixth part of the American people to a level 
with the beasts that perish, invites the sensual of all colors to wallow in 
the mire of her impurity. Ancient slavery was the parent of licentious- 
ness, as is attested by the Greek and Roman writers. Yet female slaves 
were protected by these ancient heathen legislators, by salutary enact- 
ments for the punishment of licentious masters, enactments unknown to 
the American slave code, inconsistent with the seventy of its discipline, 
and incompatible with the tenure of its absolute possession. 

Slavery blights the industry of the nation by making labor disreputable. 
It degrades the laboring population by assimilating them to slaves. 
It leads our statesmen to imagine, and sometimes say, that the laboring 
people, are incompetent to self-government, and thus it emboldens them 
to treat them as slaves. || 

Slave holding destroys the power of self-control, and diminishes the re- 
straints of law. By "a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous pas- 

** Laws of Louisiana — Child's Appeal, p. 7L t Jay's Inquiry, p. 9. 

t "While the laws of thn United States denounce the foreign slave trade as 
piracy, and punish with death those wlio are found engaged in its perpetration, 
there exists in the District, the seat of the National Government, a domestic 
slave trade, scarcely Ics disgraceful in its character, and even more demoral- 
izing IN ITS INFLUENCE." Tliis Statement is contained in a memorial to Con- 
gress for the gradual abolition of slavery in the Distrirt, presented in 1828, and 
signed by more than one tliousand citizens of tlic District of Columbia, including 
such men as Hon. W. Cranch, Rev. Elias Harrison, Rev. W. C.Walton, 
Thomas Vowell, John Douglass, J. K. Janney, Abijah Janney, Jos. Janncy. 
C P. Thompson, Jacob Janney, E. Corning, J. Shillabar, &c. 

II Speech of Mr. Leigh, at the Virginia Convention, some years since— als(> 
llip late Message of Gov. McDuffie. 



'-^-i Deitaraiion tuid K.ipo^ic. 



sioiis," by lulniinistcring "the most iinienutlingdespblisin," ami by bemg 
" nursed, educated and daily exercised in tyranny,"* nearly one half the 
entire nuuibcr of our naiional leghlaiors become despots, and the remain- 
der are exposed to tlie infectious example. 

By inducing idleness, it leads to intemperance and gaming: 

"By permitting one half of the citizens tiius to tiainple on the riglits ot 
the other, it transforms those into despots, and these into enemies — de- 
stroys the morals of the one part., and the Amor pair <b [[)atriotism] of the 
other. "t 

In renders the "liberties of tlie nation insecure," by removing " their 
only linn basis, a conviction in the minds of the peoplethat tiiese liberties 
are the gift of God, and that they are not to be violated but with his 
wrath. "J 

It learns Americans the logic of despots in defence of their own practices. 
It brings the principles of liberty under proscription as "incendiary." It 
banishes the study of republicanism from our schools and seminaries. It 
reduces the Declaration of Independence to a mere "flourish of rhetoric." 

It curses the fairest portion of our republic with a thriftless system of 
agriculture. It begets sectional feuds, it arrays rival interests and con- 
flicting schemes of political economy in our public councils, and tends to 
national disunion. 

It reduces one-sixth part of our population to the condition of heathen 
— and imposes upon the entire population of the slave holding States, a 
spurious Christianity that will not or dares not reprove its atrt)cilies. It 
sanctifies the heathe:i barrier of caste — it forbids the elevation and instruc- 
tion of tlie free |)eo})le of color — it nullifies the command to jireach the 
gospel to every creature — it pollutes the Church witli its abominations — 
identifies Christianity witii oppression — drives thousands into infidelity — 
blots out the light of the Bible — and ruins the £ouls of the oppressors and 
the oppressed ! 

Its Origin' and Foundation. 

In its origin, ils founduiion, and its tenure, we find the present Ameri- 
can slave system identified with the African slave trade, now punished by 
the laws of nations and our own laws as piracy. We know of no principle 
of law or morals by which continuance in crime can take away its crimi- 
nality : or by which the holding of stolen men in involuntary bondage can 
be transmuted into anv thing else than man-stealing. II it be piracy to 
bring men into slavery, it must be because slavery itself is pirathal. He 
who brings Africans inio America is not condemned for piracy unless they 
are brought for the purpose of being ens/arcJ. The yj/Vf/ci/ then consists 
in the slavery. The African slave trailer is guilty because he is accessary 
to slave holding; just as Die importer of stronii drink is accessary to ils 
consumption. If the consumiition be ligiil, the importation cannot be 
wrong; and if slave holding be morally lawful, tlie importation of slaves 
cannot Justly be accounted piracy. The claim ol the present holder can- 
not be better than that of the person from whom he derived his title. But 
to stand in his shoes and urge his claim, would be urging a claim to be 
considered a pirate 1 And the seizure and enslavement of infants born in 
this country, wc conceive must stand on the same moral level with the 
same act in other countries, unless huinan rights arc more sacred on every 
other soil than on ouroirn. 

The absurdity and hypocrisy of declaring tlie slave trade piracy, and yet 
continuing the practice of slave holding, is well illustrated in the practical 
operation of oui laws. The captain, llie supercargo, the mates, the crew, 
the cook, the steward, the cabin-boy — every person employed on board a 

' Joflprson's Noirs on \'ir"ini!i. f ll>. '• "' 



Declaraiion a)id tlxpose. *ZB 

felave ship importing slaves into tlie United Slates, from Africa, may legally 
bo hanged at the yard ar. a ^br pirates; and yet the officers making the 
seizure are directed hy tlie laws of the slave States, where such a ves- 
sel may arrive, to take the slaves, thus imported, sell them into per- 
petual slavery, and pay over the proceeds to the State Treasurer ! 
From 1S03 (the period when the f()rei;;n slave trade was abolished) to 
1819, this practice was unchecked by any countervailing legislation on 
the part of tiie U. States. At this latter period, the President of the 
U. States was authorized, if he deemed it expedient, " to make ar- 
rangements for the safe keeping, support, and removal beyond the lim- 
its of the U. Stales, of negroes thus imported ;" and the clause of the 
act of 1S07, which vested such monstrous autliority in the State Leg- 
islatures, was repealed. Yet nolwithstmding this, the Legislature of 
Alabama, in 1823, enacted laws for selling the slaves illegally imported, 
into perpetual slavery, for ihe emolument of the State. This daring 
nullification of the laws of the U. States, appears to have met with no 
opposition from the National Authorities — [vide Stroud, p. 162, 3, 4-3 
And yet the Nation boarAs that it has abolished the African Slave 
Trade ! 

Its Selection of Victims; 

In the selection of its victims we find the American slave code reg- 
ulated by no rule that should lull the rational fears of all other men 
for the dangerous nature of the precedent. 

If human beings may be enslaved on so frivolous and impious a pre- 
text as the colur their Creator has given their skins, by the climate in 
which he has placed them ; then the necessities, or the ignorance, or 
the vices, or the improvidence of men (qualities far more iniportant 
than color, and depending more on men's conduct) may be pleaded as 
weightier reasons lor their enslavement. And so white men may be 
enslaved ! 

The defence of slavery has already been made on these grounds j 
and the Northern white laborer has been told that his freedom is a 
cur.se from which the Southern slave is kindly and righteously exempt- 
ed ! — Wlien we remember that it is but a few centuries since a portioni 
of our British ancestors were hold in feudal bondage under this same 
plea — and when we consider that widte laborers now deserve as much care 
and kindness as colored ones, we cannot doubt the benevolent dJ.ST^osiiton 
to extend it to them ! — Our hardy yeomanry, we are persuaded, do not 
owe tiieir freedom to any boundaries which the principle of American 
Slavery has prescribed to itself: nor to any conscientious scruples in the 
abettors and apologists of the system. — Their arguments, whether drawnf 
from necessity or from scripture, are just as easily applied to white labor- 
ers as to colored ones. Color is become an item of little account in the 
modern argument, and common sense forbids the belief that men can be 
rightfully enslaved on such grounds. 

The Colored Race. 

Aslittle security to general freedom do we find in the comparative mor- 
al and intellectual history of the race proscribed by American Slavery as 
Incapable of self-direction. 

If the race of men to whom most civilized nations are indebted for their 
knowledge of literature may be thus proscribed as inca|)able of freedom, 
we may well despair of finding any other race to whom the au>iust Genius 
of Slavery will condescend to award the prerogative of inviolable security 
If the rights of such a race are not inalienable, then no other race of meiit 
may claim inalienable rights. 

If human beings be deemed rightfully enslaved because they belong 
»o the same race with the ancient inhabitants of Ethiopia and Egypt-^ 
4 



"26 Der/araliun and Ilcffosc. 

r!ic late ljy wiium Bab\liiii, uml Assyria, and Xiiietcli, ami Tyvt,. ;»Rd 
Carlliaire were. I'ouiideil : — 

If it be liiou;;l:t luwiui lu iiiibrutc Ihe iniiige of his Maker, because 
he belongs lo tli.it portion of tlie human family among whom the au- 
thors of tiie Greek and Roman Mythology located their gods, as among 
the most cxtelleht of mortals — whose country they supposed lo be the 
birtli-place of their Jupiter and their Minerva — 

If tliat variety of the liuman face be pronounced Heaven's signet of 
irrevocable degradation which bears the features of the statues of the 
Sphynx — 

If human beings be declared incapable ol inleileclual culture because 
they belong lo a race lo wliosc ancestors a Solon, a Pythagoras and a 
Plato were sent tor instruction — 

If it be accounted a Christian duty to witldiold Ihe Bible fram a man 
because he is oi>e of tlie descendants of the nation in whose ' kno\sledge 
and wisdom' Moses himself was learned, preparatory to his writing " the 
generation ol the heavens and the earth" — 

If a youth may not use the Arabic figures, because his ancestral connex- 
ions first introduced them into i^urope — 

II he may not read iEsop's fables because like iEsop he has ' thii k lips, 
a flat nose, and a sooty complexion' — 

If he may not study geon)elry because he belongs lo the race of Euclid, 
the father of that Science — 

li he may not study Theology, because he wears the hue and the hair of 
' Si. Augustine — of Cyril — of Cyprian — of Origen — of Tertullian'* — tliost) 
early Falliers of the Cliristian Ciuirch who are still reverenced as the most 
venerable of men, and whose writmgs are laboriously pondered by our 
learned Divines — 

If the rights of citizenship may be justly forfeited by a relationship with 
Hamiiba"; — If the temple of freedom may not be entered by men, becaust; 
their forefathers were the builders of the pyramids : — In a word — 

If tlie descendants of [lie Africans may be righteously trodden in the dust, 
and be "deemed — sold — taken and reputed to be chaltols personal'' — brule 
beasts — under the same tenure with "quadrupeds" — on the ground of lliciv 
lineal connexion with the race from whom Greece and Rome drew directly, 
and all modem Europeans and their descendants, indireclh/, the sum total 
of their literature and civilization — then indeed may we conclude that there 
is no race of men on the oartli whit may claim the inalienabh rights of man. 
And surely, on the score oi ancestry, the lahite men of this country, whose 
forelatiiers were naked barbarians for centuries after tlie Greeks and Ro- 
mans imported literature from Africa, and most of whom were held in 
feudal bohd.ige until within a few centuries, must be among the last lo file 
in their claims lo freedom I 

Contest between Slavimiy anu Fheehom. 

'riuis certainly does American Slavery wage war with American liberty. 
In its principles, by its code, in its effects, in its oriuin and its foundation, 
and in its selection of its victims, it leaves no ground of hope lo the common 
p'^ople but the hoj)c of its downfall. They can only escape by lis desUuc- 
tion. 

To listen to its apologies is to deliberate upon the introduction of general 
despotism. The community that listens to them with favor, contaminates 
its principles ; and the republic that loses its principles is undone. 

The progress of Amerii an Slavery has been rapid and onward. 'I'he 
antagonist jtiineiph's ol freedom have lieen too feebly urged to maintain 
their ground. At the present moment the liberties of the nation aro prc- 

'/\i. Bp iSlinrpc. A. S Krc. Doc. 1830 



fOedarahon and Expose. 27 

paring for a sa<rifiie upon the ulhu- ui SIaver_v : nnJ noliiing but a gigr.ntir. 
nnd [)rompt effort, wiili Heaven's especial javor, can j)rcservc lliem. A 
brief outline of prominent facts ma)- assist us in perceiving this truth. 
Historical Mkmokaxda — Early AboUlionism. 

The American Revolution had not been achievet] before some of its 
brightest ornaments be.L^an to apply its principles to the overthrow .of slav- 
ery. The assertion ot inaiienabk- human rights, in the Declaration of 
American Independence, was alniost a verbal repetition of the previously 
published sentiments of Samuel Hopkins of Newport, in Riiode-Island, in 
his Dialogue against Slavery. Tiie penman of that Declaration had scarce- 
ly risen from its signature before he recorded tliose testimonials against 
slavery, from which we have already quoted. John Jay of New-York, 
during the war of the Revolution, held this memorable language — " Till 
America conies iiito this measure (abolition of slavery) her prayers to hea- 
ven for liberty will be impious.'' — When addressing the Legislature of 
New- York, then a slave State, lie told tliem that the slaves, though ' held 
in bondage by the laws of man, were " free by tiie laws of God.' " Frank- 
lin, and Jay, and Rush, in 17S7 united in an Abolition Society " to extend 
the blessinus of freedoui to every part of our race. ' This Society repub- 
lished the Dialogue of Samuel Hopkins, and subsequently the Sermon of 
Jonathan P^dwards, of Connecticut. Those writings, which contain the 
identical doctrines of modern abolitionists, are still circulated by the An'.i- 
Slavery Societies, rnd form a prominent part of the publications now pro- 
scribed as " incendiaiy.'' In proportion to their limited circulation, they 
produced, at that early period, a powerful effect, as did those of Bcnczet 
and Woolman in Pennsylvania. Through their influence slavery was abol- 
ished in the present non-slaveholding States. The foreign slave trade, v, as 
prospectively abolished. — Washington, previous to his manumission of his 
own slaves, CNprcssed his conviction that slavery ought to be aiiolislied by 
iegisiative power, a sentiment, the expression of which is now thought a 
sufficient provocation for dissolving the Union ! — William Pincknoy, of 
Maryland, in the House of Delegates of that State, forty-seven years ago 
predicted the very crisis to v.hich we are now arrived. If slavery was to 
be continued, tlic principles of liberty, he said, would be corrupted and 
undermined. " The resistance of freemen against oppression," said he, 
"■ will become a struggle of pride and selfishness, not of principle." "Tho 
stream of general liberty will have flown so long through the inirc of par- 
tial bondage, that it will have become polluted.'' — " The habit of ihinkiii" 
that the great rig'.its of human nature are not so sacred but that they may 
with impunity be trampled upon, will have prepared men for usurpation; 
and those who have been habituated to lord it over others, will become 
base enough to let others lord itovcrtiiem !" 

Manumission — Ih Progress and Rcsxdis- 

Under the exhibition of (ruths like these, the Southern conscience began 

to be enlightened, and Southern hearts, one after another, began to melt. 

Had tiie efforts of Jay and his cotemporarics been duly seconded and car- 
ried forward by the great body of Northern Christians, the epitaph of 
American Slavery, we believe, would, long since, have been written. 

As it was, the effect was by no means contemptible. To their exertion.-- 
our 302,000 free people of color, in a great degree, owe their freedom: and 
let their Churches, and Ministers, and Schools, and Bible Classes, and 
Temperance Societies, and public edifices, and benovolent funds, and re- 
vivals of religion, bear testimony whether, under all their disadvantages, 
the kindness which transformed them from "chattels personal" to their 
present condition, has proved a curse to them! In Cincinnati, there are 
colored people who, besides supporting themselves, have, within a few 
years paid upwards of 260,000 dollars to redeem their friends from slave- 



^8 Declaration and Expose. 

17. In file city ci New-York, and in several large towns and cities in 
Ihat State, and in Pennsylvania, the records of Temperance Societies 
attest, at least, the equal sobriety of tlie colored people, in comparison 
with the white population. In Philadelphia, so far from burdcninjr the 
whites with the support of their paujicrs, tlieir cily taxes, over and 
above tlie s'ipporl of liieir own poor, lurnish funds for the support of 
white pau|)ers. One of the wealthiest mechanics in that city, if nd in 
tiie nation, is a colored man. A toniinitlee of the Pennsylvania Legisla- 
ture a|>p()inted to collect the statistics of the colored people, witii a view 
to enactments preventing their iuL'ress into the State, surprized tliem- 
selves and the Legislature, with a repoit of particulars, fully authorizing 
their unexpected conclusion; to wit; that the colorecl population were 
an industrious and worthy class of inhabitants. All this in despite of the 
public prejudice and legal disabilities which tend to degrade and dcr 
press theifl. 

Causes of its Decline. — Colonization. 
The progress of manumission from 17S7 to ISIO, was in a ralio far ex- 
ceeding that of any former or subsequent periods, as is proved by the cen- 
sus of the United States. But the gold o{ the American Revolution at 
length became dim, and its fine gold changed. The fathers slept, and 
left not their mantles behind them. The doctrine o\' immediate emancipa- 
tion, adopted only by a few, and operating on scattered individuals, pro- 
duced but g-r</(j'ua/ results : yet sufTicienl to excite alarm among the friends 
nf the slave system. The presorue and example of a free colored popu- 
lation early arrested their aftention, and numerous expedients were devis- 
ed to remove them. The result was that delusive scheme of expatriation, 
first planned bv the legislature of Virginia at an early period, but jmblicly 
organized in 1810; sustained in |)art by philanlliropisis, who were prom- 
ised thai it should facilitate a gradual emancipation, but constantly under 
the direction of slaveholders, wlio continued to hold their slaves. The 
leading friends of this scheme avowed, at an early day, their hostility to 
Abolition Societies, and by arlfid measures effected their extinction, or 
dissuaded their members from efficient action. The Colonization scheme 
furnished a ready support and excuse lor laws forbidding the emancipation 
of slaves, except on condition of tlieir removal. In order to obtain support 
Jo this sclicMK!, it became convenient to represent the free colored popula- 
tion as a deiiiaded class, whom il was desirable to remove from among 
us, while, witii singular inconsistency, their Colonization on the coast ot 
Africa, was to Ciiristianize a heathen continent I At the North it was 
advocated as a plan for the removal of slavery ; at the South, as tending 
to slrengthen the slave system by the removal of the free. As it discour- 
aged emancipation without expatriation from the country, so it furnished 
an opiate to flic conscienc c of the half rep.entant slaveholder, who persuad- 
ed himself that he was not bound to emancipate — (especially as t!ie laws 
had forbidden it) until the funds ol the expatriating society should furnish 
the means of removal ! The inadequacy of this scheme, as a help to 
emancipation, will apiiear by the fact that less than 1000 cinancijiated 
slaves wer(^ colonized in sixleen years,* at the close of which period the 
Society was found to be 50,000 dollars in debt : the annual increase of 
Cf)lored persons in tlie mean lime, proceeding at a ratio of 60 or 80,000 a 
year! And manumissions at home almost entirely disconliiiued I Nation- 
al Appropriations to its funds by Congress, have long been the forlorn 
liope of the sanL'uine advocates of tlio scheme; but the Association itself, 
ptils recent anniversary, has almost unan'unously abandoned the project. 

" IVovious to tlie organtraliun of thii Porieiv, nbout 10,000 slnrps had bop« 
fr^tiiMTiittnd tt homo, in ti^n vi-ar* ' 



Declaration and Expose. HSl 

Thus has ended the melancholy delusion ; but the evils it invited have no^ 
ceased : It has introdu'-ed a. pro-slavery public sentiment nmoii,^ the lite- 
rati of tlie North, wherever its publications h^we been disseminated, and 
the warmest su|. porters of the anomalous sr heme, h.ave been, wilii rare ex- 
ceptions, the loudest opposcrs of Anti-Slavery effurt. As a specimen of 
therr sealim^'uls we select a few extracts Irom tlicir official periodical, 
tiie African Repositnry : 

" We hold their slaves, as we hold their other properly — sacred." Vol. 
1, p. 283. 

" To the slave holder they (tlie Society) address liicmsclvcs in a tone of 
conciliation and sympathy. We know your rights, say they, and we re- 
spect them." Vi)l. 7, p 100. 

" The rights of liie masters are to remain sacred in the eyes of the 
Society." Vol. 4, p. 274. 

" Policy, and even the voice of humanity forbid the progress of manu- 
mission. Vol. 4, p. 268. 

" It would be as humane to throw them froni the decks, in the middle 
passage, as to set them free in our country." Vol. 4, p. 22G. 

" The existence of slavery amons; us, though not at all to be objected lo 
our Southern brethren as a'fault,'' &c. Vol. 5, p. 179. 

" it (the Society) condemns no man because he is a slaveholder." Vol. 
7, p. 200. 

"Acknowledging the necessity by which its (slavery) present continu- 
ance, and rigorous provisions for its maintenance are justified.'' Vol.3, 
page 16. 

" The laws of Virginia now discourasre, and very wisely, perhaps, the 
emancipation of slaves." Vol. 7, p. 202. 

" We believe that there is not the sliirhtest moral turpitude in holding 
slaves, under present circumstances." Vol. 9, p. 4. 

These extracts are .selected as a specimen of numerous speeches and 
writings of statesmen and divines, at the North and at the South, through 
a number of successive years. 

They show sufFicientiy the deep slumber in which the moral sensibili- 
ties of the nation were sealed for fifteen or sixteen years preceding the 
commencement of the present efforts. With the single exception of a tem- 
porary struggle m Rhode-Island in 1820 — occasioned by the Missouri 
compromise — those slumbers, we believe, were unbroken. And certainly 
we c;inn()t marvel that during this period the ratio of manumissions are 
found to ha\e very maleriall}' diminished." The admission of Missouri, as 
^ slave State, into the Union, in the mean time, not only increased the rela- 
tive strength of slavery in the Confederacy, but inflicted an injury on the 
public conscience, which was not afterwards repaired. 

Present Efforts. 

Prom that awful lethargy the nation is just beginning to emerge. A 
few daring spirits have adventured to rouse the wild beast from its lair,an4 
the land trembles with its roar. 

The effort now needed to regain the gronnd ichich liberty occupied in 
1787, sufficiently indicates the rapidity of her decline. Her descent was 
so smooth and silent as to be almost unperceived. But a glance at the 
point from whence she started, presents an acclivity so steep and elevateil 
that the stoutest hearts, if they have not quailed from the attempt, have 
been compelled to revolve th-o possible alternative of not attaining- it ! 
What patriot, in 17S7, could have anticipated the humiliating spectacles 
presented during t!ie past year. The cradle of liberty profaned by pro- 
slavery harangues ! Some of the worthiest citizens of New-England an(i 

" Vi<^« r<'n«ni f>fth<? United Statcf 



^'3 Declaration and Expose. 

■the Middle States, pursuing llicir lawful avocations with ji price set upon 
their heads ! Liberty of the press proscribed for the fault ot maintaining 
tlie doctrines of JclTersoii's Decl-.inUion of Iiidepcndenro I The ])ubiic 
miil vj. dated by hwle'^s power, ami tiie outraije sanctioned by tlie highest 
iuithorities ! The bitterest dregs of Southern Slavery offered to the lips of 
Northern freeinon^ with l!ie conimand to drink it, on f'aitj nf a dissolution 
of the Union! 

T/ie OpposUion. — lis Character, 

A review of the present Anli Slavery ellbrts, the oj^position it encoun- 
ters, and the sources from whence that op])osition proceeds, suiriciently 
indicate the ricifure of the slrug<ile, and chissify tiie por/ies engaged in it. 
It is evidoMlly a slruigle for tiic first principles of liberty on the one j)arl, 
and for absohite despotism on the otiier. Whether the Aristocracy" of the 
Xorlii and the slaveholders of the South have literally combined together, 
for the ovortlirow of liberty, or Vil ether they are drawn to act in concert 
by the operation ol moral affinities or identity of interest, matters little to 
.(he n)ain point. It is sutTicient to know the fad that they act together, 
and so art liiat liberty is not only endangered ijut outraged. 

A few facts will suffice to show that the Northern and Southern aristoc- 
racy do actually coalesce, that the principles of the one are the principles 
of the other; (hat they are equally determined to s'ijle the discussion of in- 
alienable human rights : and thai the most sacred rights ol American citi- 
7.ens are actually invaded by tiiein, witli daily impunity. 

The first Anti-Sla\ery Society riov,' in operation was formed in IVlassa- 
chusetts in 1S32. Other societies on t!ie same principles soon began to 
spring up in various parts of No\v-Eni:land. In Providence a society was 
formed in 1S.33. la tiie city ot Nov/-York, in October, 1S33. An Ameri- 
can Anti-Slavery Society was formed in Philadelphia, Dec. 4, 1833 by 
delegates from eleven States. State Societies are now organized in 
Maine, New-Hampshire, Massachuselts, Vermont, New York, Kentucky, 
Ohio and Rhode-Island. The number of societies in all is supposed to be 
^bout 400, and tlie number is rapidly increasing. 

Misrepresentations. — Outrages. 

At no period of tlnse efibrts, have any appeals been made to the slaves. 
No publications nor agents have been sent among them. No appeals to 
physical force in any form have been countenanced, but constantly dis- 
claimed and discouraged. Th.e doctrines ol peace have been constantly 
urged in the prominent publications disseminated, and nothing of a difl'er- 
cnt ciiaractnr has been f'oimd m the lectures and writings of modern Abo- 
litionists. No instance of insubordination has taken place in conscfpicnce 
of llieir elTorls. The insurrectional Southampton in Virginia, (so of(en 
mentioned) took place before any Anti-.SIavery Societies were formed, 
and it is recorded by the Southern papers ot tiiat period, that no free per- 
son, white or colored, was even suspected of being connected with that 
Jragedy. 

There has been no proposal by Abolitionists to abolish Slavery in the 
Southern States by Contiressional legislation — nor to dissolve the Union — 
nor to infringe the Constitution — nor to use violence of any kind. Aboli- 
tionists have, in no instance, violated the pulilic peace — nor threatened the 
use ol violence — nor violated the Constitution — nor adopted nor proposed 

'We. rail no man nil .\iistorrnf l)cr;uiso Jie lias weailli — or heratisp licornipics 
nn ex. died station — or ber.-iiisr ho lias influoiiiM', or talents, or genius, or ionrn- 
ingjOr moial worlli, or dignity of soul. An Aristocrat may possess neither of 
tlicRo,(ui(l ncvfr posRcsses all f.)f tlinn. Wo mean hvlln' t(!rin wint llio pcopjr 
of this ronntry nsiinlly nndprsland by it — a drspisrr of thr rnmmou proplr . Of 
fiirh an nriii|ntr«rv, our roiintrv hn iti full clinro 



Declaration and Exposr. Zt 



any measures in tlio execution oi' uiiicli they are not slutliltd by the Icllc:' 
and the spirit of the Cnnstittition. 

Yet every thing oi tliis icinii has been allribiiled to them. 'I'hc press 
has been used as a constant vehicle ol innumerable shinders aiiainst Uicni, 
and ahnost as constantly closed ag;iinst the relutation of them. Mobs 
have been excited, the laws set aldetiance, consirtutional and inalienable 
rights have been systeint\liraily violated, and the Conslitiili >n ol' llic Unit- 
ed States rendered a dead letter by oi..tragcs perpetrated under the juelcnce 
tliat Abolitionists must be pkeve^'ted _/ro?rt violating the (JonsiHulion ! 

The Instigators — Their Victims. 

By whom have these things been transacted] Invariably by the Aris- 
tocracy : the class of men who look with contem[)l upon the common peo- 
ple — the men of higii looks — the despisers ol' the poor ! Th:^ common peo- 
ple have been their constant victims: the most invaluable 7-ighls ol' tlie 
common people have been their j)rpy. Let facts speak. 

An industrious young printer, with no fortune but his talents, character, 
and love oi freedom, set up a weekly newspaper in Boston. — He was 
an American : It was natural that he should print his tiioughts — a son ol 
New-England — it was not marvellous that his thoughts should run upon 
inalienable human rights: a Clirislian — it was not unpardonable that he 
should "rememher them that are in bonds as bound with them" — a stu- 
dent of the Scriptures : it was not surprising that he should " [)lead the 
cause of the poor and needy"; — a native ol Massachusetts j he probably 
supposed himself under the protection of the laws in doing so. What v>"as' 
the results — Why; his bold reproofs of tyranny ofl'ended the Aiistocracy. 

A slave-holding Governor of one State, and a slave-holding Senator of 
another, offered a reward for his abduction ! He had printed the doctrine 
of human rights — he had blasphemed against Slavery f — It was not tit that 
he should live ! This was before a single Anti-Slavery Society had been 
formed — before the South had been deluged with Anti-Slavery publications. 
Where were the constituted Authorities of Massachusetts 1 Did they 
utter any remonstrance 1 No. — Did they take any measures for the 
security of their citizens'? for the dignity of the Statel Oh ! No! — It was 
only an obscure meciianic, one who had written against des[)otism ! — Had 
it been one of their own titled selves — had it been some wealthy relative of 
a slave-holder — had it been some lordly apologist of slavery, the insult 
would not have remained unnoticed. But what had the dignity of the 
State to do with the protection of a mechanicT One w ho was opposed to 
despotic power 1 Nothing at all, in their view! The only question 
among the northern aristocracy appears to have been whether he should 
be given up to their ' brethren of tlie South !' A Boston Magistrate sec- 
onded their eft'orts by presenting his publication as a nuisance. A profes- 
sed minister of the gospel in high favor with the Aristocracy intimated 
that his abduction would be no crime. From that period no efforts were 
spared to malign and injure him. The individual too humble to be pro- 
tected by the laws of the land was not too unimportant to be pursued 
with the deadly hatred of the N. England nobility for years, until alJength, 
a mob of '• gentlemen of properly and standing,'' excited by the aristo- 
cratic press, assembled to drag him through the public streets ! Thanks 
be to the God of the oppressed, he yet lives, in the presence of his ene- 
mies, and his pen is more dreaded by tyrants than the arrow of William 
Tell. Posterity will preserve the name of William Lloyu Gahrison. 
Mobs — their Origin. 

In October 1833, a few citizens of New-York assembled by previous 
appointment to form a City Anti-Slavery Society. The presses of tho 
Aristocracy demanded that they should be "put down;" when 6000 
'^ raspectftble gentlemen," by (he testimony of the samo presses assembled 



32 JJccid/aUon and KxposS. 

to execute ilic despotic inaiulate, in a dastardly assault upon " 22 men and 
2 women I" Having occupied a public Hall, a prominent citizen presided 
and Literary Gt-nllemen made tlieir speeches. Tliey then sallied Jbith lor 
deeds of xiolenco. Dirks were brandished. The Aitli Slavery meeting 
was violently entered. Murderous ofiers were made lor the heads of 
American Citizens ! The whole was announced by the Aristocratic 
presses with an air of triuini)h. In one week from this lime, a crouded 
Colonization Meeting was convened, on invitation of the same presses. — 
Speeches were made by Senators and Chanceil;)rs and eminent counsel- 
lors. "Not a word of disapprobation of tlic late outrage escaj)ed them; 
on the contrary, the violence offered to Abolitionists seemed to be ex- 
tenuated, if not justified, by the jxrievous ci)arges brouglil against them,"'* 
Mr. Senator Fri-luighuysen ciiarged lliem with " seeking to dissolve the 
Union.'' Chancellor Walworth pronounced their efi'orts " unconstitu- 
tional," and denonnced them as " reckless incendiaries." Mr. Ogdeti de- 
clared " tiie daclrine of immediate emancipation to be a direct and palpa- 
ble nullilication of tiie Constitution I" In strict accordance with these 
sentiments it was declared that " 'nine tenths of the hurrurs of Slavery are 
imaginary" and the desire of its abolition was satirized as the ''poetry of 
philanthrupy.'^' 

The time would fail to mention the numerous similiar indications in 
various parts ol the country. Twice at Utica, once or twice at Middle- 
town, at Boston, and many other places. In every instance the mobs have 
been excited by the incipient nobility of the country, wlio have called to 
their aid tlie lowest dregs of society, the intemperate — the desperate — 
the unthinking. The stable, industrious, sober, middle classes of society 
have always been the victims of their attacks; and freedom of speech, and of 
the Press, have been the objects at which their blows ha\e been levelled. 

The great riots at New-iork in July, 1631 were of the same character. 
The Journal of Commerce itself bore testimony to the notorious /ac< that 
they were [>!anned several weeks before the excitement existed, and by 
large numbers uf the wealthiest and most iiifluential citizens. When the 
time came, the mobs were aroused by floods of falsehoods from every 
press sustai ;ed by the Aristocracy, without allowing the privilege of 
reply ! Houses of worship were assaulted — Private dwellings rifled of 
their furniture to be burnt in the streets — Citizens were obliged to fly from 
the city fur safely, or lodge at a distance from their homes. 

Aristocratic Meetings — Proposed Legislation. 

The meetings for " putting down the Abolitionists" in our principal 
towns and cities, have all been invited and attended by the satnc class — 
the Aristocracy. Not an exception that we know of, can be named. f 
Tiic ' bone and n)usrle' of the commtuiily — the hardy farmers and busy 
intellig(;nt mechanics have neither invited them, nor been invited to them. 
No. — The 'gentry' have monopolized the honor, unless liieir ever atten- 
dant rabble should come in lor a share of the gl>ry. It is remarkable that 
these meetings have either been the means of exciling mobs or have been 
got up by the influence of previous onciS. Their tone has varied, in dif- 
ferent places, according to the local power o( the Aristocratic classes. 
The inalienable rii^hts of man have, however, found no advocates at any 
ol them. Nor have the fl 'grant insults of the Southern slave holders, in 
offering rewards for the muriler of northern citizens, elicited their censure 
or indignation. 

At cvtr> stai;e of these persecutions, the Abolitionisfs have been order- 
ly, [)caceable and quiet. And at every period, " the common people have 

•Jny'8 Incjiiiry. 

tTliu f«;vv disturbances in country viliugos liave licen mvitt*! iiv tliouc who' 
♦ iRitn t<.' be rcgiirdcd ;is nliovw lliu Itjvi'j of tli« rfinimon people 



beciaration and Expose,. !^* 

heard them gladly." To prevent them from hearing has been the grand ob- 
ject of the aristocracy. This object has beeri openly avowed, and lies 
Upon the very face of their proceedings. A riotous cliimor is raised in r 
public assembly THAT THE PEOPLE MAY NOT HEAR! The 
Mail Bags are seized, THAT THE PEOPLE MAY NOT READ ! 
Mobs are excited, that the people may not have an OPPORTUNITY to 
hear and read ! Legislative enactments are demanded, (hat THE PEO- 
PLE MAY BE DEPRIVED of t.ke right of knowing and judging FOR 
THEMSELVES I The doctrine of expediency has long taught that the 
slaves must not be allowed to read : and the same doctrine of expediency is 
now saying as loudly that the great body of the white northern people must 
not be permitted to read ! 

The Point at Issue. 

Whether the people will submit, remains to be seen. If they maintaiis 
their rights, it will be by maintaining the inalienable right of all men to 
read, to hear, and to know, and to speak for themselves. — It will do nri 
good to maintain that lohite men have an inalienable right to read I Com- 
mon sense revolts at the frivolous distinction. — And the controversy has 
already gone beyond that point. It has beeii so long admitted that the col- 
ored laborer has no right to read, that the southern and northern aristocracy 
have been emboldened unitedly to demand that white laborers shall not be 
permitted to read — except on such subjects as they shall please to permit ! 
At all events, they shall not read the publications that support INA- 
LIENABLE HUMAN RIGHTS ! 

The proposal to pass laws against Anti-Slavery lectures and Anti-Slav 
ery publications can be nothing more nor less than a proposal to pass laws 
that THE PEOPLE shall not hear and read them I — This is self-evident. And 
we find it to be so understood by those who propose them. 

Gov. McDuffie in his message anticipates the time when 'the fanatics,' 
as he calls them, will become too numerous to be controlled by the govern- 
ment unless these laws are enacted speedily. The Boston pamphlet, rec- 
ommending legislative action, and fortified by legal opinions of professional 
gentlemen, ex[)resses the same sentiment.* It complains that " the village 
and country inhabitants'' are becoming Abolitionists so rapidly that nothing 
but laws against Anti-Slavery meetings and publications can counteract 
the Anti-Slavery effort! 

Gov. Everett, of Massachusetts, seems to intimate that abolition efforts' 
are " rrtisdetneanors at common law ' ! 

Gov. Marcy, of New-York, in his late message, contends that ihe State 
governments possess this right, and intimates that its exercise will become 
expedient, if the Abolitionists should be found to increase so much as to 
render legal enactments necessary for their suppression. In other words, 
the people must not be allowed to read and hear and form opinions for 
themselves, if it shall be found that they do not form opinions agreeable 
to their rulers I 

Attempts have already been made t) introduce these doctrines into fiie 
Legislature of Rhode-Island, and to produce corresponding legislativa 
action. 

We cannot wonder at these indications of usurpation in the rulers o/ 
the Slate, after the precedent that has been witnessed in the pillars of the 
Church If Theological Students may not discuss the Divine laws against 
oppression, we see no reason why itie right should not be denied to alt 
our citizens, and by an authority less questionable than that of TheoJa^f 
caj Professors ! 

' Pnmphlit hi/ the Mrsur.'' ■^iillir/ri>r 



3-1 Declaration and Expose. 

The Ground of Offence. 

Abolitiuiiists are piosciibed l(.'r no other crime ihan pioclaiiijing the 
doctrine of inalienable human rights, and lor declaring that slavery is a 
sinful violation of Ihem which ought to be immediately abandoned. 

For this crime they have been treated as outlairs, and are now threaten- 
ed to be crushed with legal enactments- 

By whom have they been thus treated ? And by whom are they thus 
threatened'? By the Aristocracy of the North and of the South. By 
slaveholders, and by those who would not scruple to become such. 

The Object of Attack. — Guardiansliip over the People. 
Against whom is the blow levelled 1 Is it against the " few miserable 
fanatics," they affect to despise 1 Or is it against THE PEOPLE 1— 
Was their force of 5000 men arrayed against the " 22 men and 2 women,'' 
who assembled in New-York \ Or was it not rather, the change of public 
opinion that they feared 1 Have not the public a right to change their 
opinions 1 And a right to hear and read arguments 1 — No ! Not accord- 
ing to the doctrines and practices of the Aristocracy ! — No. THE PEO- 
PLE must be put under THEIR GUARDIANSHIP ! 
Outrages on the Constitution. 
In the exercise of this usurped guardianship over the people, they have 
violated the laws — trampled upon the Constitution — plundered the United 
States Mail — flooded the country with inflammatory falsehoods — roused 
innumerable mobs — dispersed schools oi learning — insulted female piety 
and benevolence — broken up female meetings for prayer — dragged the 
Ministers of Jesus Christ from their pulpits and from their knees — arrest- 
ed citizens on false pretences — subjected them to false imprisonments — 
disgraced our jurisprudence with mock trials — inflicted public stripes with- 
out conviction of crime — armed mobs with the authority of law — prostrat- 
ed law with the violence of mobs — ^justified riots — enacted* and proposed 
despotic and unconstitutional laws — and hunted as the partridge upon the 
mountains, the benefactors of their race — the associates of Wilberlorce — 
the emancipators of the British West Indies ! 

In the progress of the present contest, indications still more alarming, 
have been developed. 

The right ol the people peaceably to assemble — and to petition for a re- 
dress of grievances; a right inalienable in its own nature, and as such re- 
cognized expressly in all our American Constitutions — has been repeat- 
edly questioned, and is now gravely debated upon the floor of Congress ! 
Denial of Human Rights. 
Northern as well as Southern literary periodicals have recently main- 
tained that the doctrine of inalienable human rights is a ' mere 
flourish of rhetoric,' without any solid foundation in the nature of 
things — without any support from correct philosophy, and at variance 
with the fundamental principles of our religion ! Not a few have branded 
the doctrine as a part of the Jacobinism of the first French Revolution. 
Literary gentlemen of high standing, and exerting extcrtsive influence in 
our churches, have expressly declined lending their countenance to the 
efforts for abolishing slavery on the venj ground that the Declaration ot 
the National Anti-Slavery Convention contained a recognition of the ob- 
noxious doctrine of inalienable rights ! And finally, a large number of 
these gentlemen, impelled by the increasing pressure of public sentiment 
to make a show of some cfl\)rl in behalf ot the oppressed people of color, 
have organized— nominally, at least — an association in their behalf, with 
a very carefuUv expressed disclaimer or noji- committal in respect to iha 

* WilnesB tlio blaek law of Connecticut, decidedly unconstitutional and yai 
unrepcaluJ ! 



DtdicaiLOH and Expose. 35 

inalienable rights of man* ! So lliat liberty is is at length proscribed in 
its abstract principles as well as in its consistent practice. And professed 
philanthropists ostensibly seek for the colored race that exemption Irom 
tyranny which they decline to claim as the inalienable right of all men ! 
Our white citizens will learn from t!us, the estimate placed on fAeir rights, 
by the aristocratic opponents of Anti-Slavery effort. 

It needs, we think, no spirit of prophecy to predict that the liberties of 
the American people cannot long co-exist with such a state of things : es- 
pecially when we consider the silent and hitherto unperceived preparation 
• which the American Aristocracy have long been making for some such 
contest as the present. 

Corruption of Education. 
A mbraent's scrutiny will detect in our current literature, and especially 
in many of the books designed for schools and for youth, a careful omiss- 
ion of every thing that could either excite hostility to slavery, or acquaint 
our young republicans with the first principles of republican liberty. Once' 
It was not so. " The American Preceptor"— the " Columbian Orator," 
and other selections for school exercises, formerly in use, contained art'i- 
cles against slavery more pointed and severe than most of the publications 
now branded as " incendiary"! These have long since disappeared ; and 
apologies tor slavery have, in some instances taken their place. We 
might designate likewise a popular school book, emanating from the hot- 
bed of aristocratic principles, professing to give a full account oi the ori- 
gin, principles and details of our free institutions ; yet leaving the doctrine 
of inalienable human rights a blank, and leaving the student to infer that 
all his rights are enjoyed by permission of the Government! — a book 
which treats largely of juries, without naming the inestimable right of trial 
by jury! — of the different American Constitutions, without giving the 
contents of their Bills of Rights, or mentioning their guarantee of freedom 
of speech and of the press! Of the history and origin of our National 
Constitution, without an allusion to the Declaration of Independence, or 
a hint concerning its great doctrine of inalienable rights ! Yes ! Such a 
school book, for many years circulated, we could identify, in its authorship 
with recent writings, asserting the legality and utility of northern legisla- 
tion to prevent the hearing of Anti-Slavery speeches, and the readina: of 
Anti-Slavery writers ! 

It has been owing, we think, in no small measure, to influences like these 
that the humiliating spectacle has, at length, been exhibited in republit-an 
America, of large congregations of industrious farmers arid mechanics 
with their wives and children, assembled in the edifices they themselves 
reared, to hear a discussion of their own inalienable rights, from the ora- 
tors of their choice ;— disturbed, disappointed, and broken up, at the bid- 
ding of half a dozen " respectable gentlemen," and by the revellines of a 
bacchanalian mob ! The spectacle of a Church, consisting of hundreds of 
members, desirous, almost to a man, of hearing an Anti- Slavery lecture 
a lecture on human rights, but dancing attendance, cap in hand at the 
door of some lordly Squire— an infidel, perhaps, or a rum seller but a 
member of the Parish Committee, to know whether his lordship will gra- 
ciously vouchsafe his permzmon .' 

III. OUR OBJECTS ! 
Such is a condensed outline of the prominent facts in the view of 
which this Convention is assembled : Such is the momentous crisis in 
which we are impelled to cc^— In the light of the principles we have 
avowed, our objects and measures cannot easily be mistaken. 

• See Expose of the American Union far thi relief and improvement of iJi» 
Airican race. &c. * tii.^m v. i«» 



fl€ Declaration and Expose. 

In General — 

It is for the rights o/MAN lliat we are contending— the rights of ALL 
men — our own rights — the rights of our neighbor — tlic liberties of our 
country — of our posterity — of our fellow men — of all nations, and of all fu- 
ture generations. 

It is for principles — great principles — fundannental and unalterable 
principles — the princijiles of trutii — of righteousness, and ol freedom — 

It is for practices in accordance with correct principles — 

It is with the weapons of truth, in tlie warfare against error — 

It is to the death struggle between Ameuican Slavery and Ameri- 
can Freedom that we have come up : — it is in the great moral conflict 
between the practices of oppression and the precepts ol righteousness, 
that we gird on our armor. Lower objects than these we disclaim, from 
whatever quarter they may be attributed to us. 
JVhat they are not. 

It is not to add another to the mere partizan conflicts wiiich already agi- 
tate and distract our country, and divert the attention of our citizens from 
iheir higher interests. 

It is not to throw our influence/or or against either of t!ic rival candi- 
dates for political promotion and power. 

It is not to array the North in hostility against the South, nor the en- 
elaved against the free. 

It is not to infringe the Constitution — nor to excite a civil war— nor to 
injure the planters of the South. 

JVhat they are. 

On the contrary : — We seek an object which includes the reverse of all 
this. 

By uniting the great body of the people, \\ilhout distinction of sect or 
party, in the snp[)ort of great fundamental ^rs/ /»-;'?icy)/f.s — in the support 
of that which is right, in a moral warfare against that wiiich is wrong, we 
hope to soften, among good men, the asperities of parly — to burst the nar- 
row bounds of bigotry — to oc(ii|)y the i)ublic attention wilh olijccis more 
noble than the mere scrambles ol office seekers for power; to foster habits 
of thinking at vaiiance with the j)ropcnsity to sacrifice moral principle on 
the shrine of party expediency. 

We hope to bury sectional jealousy '\n the grave of the only demon, that, 
in our country, has ever engendered it : — we mean Slavery. 

By the principles of peace and righteousness addressed to the master, 
we hope for the enfranchisement of the slave in season to avert the bloody 
catastrophe, anticipated by Mr. JefTerson. 

By the wise and prompt use of the lilunties wc enjoy under the Consti- 
tution, we hope to terminate tiiose glaring infringements of it which now 
threaten its existence. 

By |)ersuading our Southern brethren voluntarily to remove " the curse 
entailed upon them" by their own criminal consent, we hope to seethe 
entire South budding and l)l()ssoming as the rose, and becoming as the 
garden of God. The redemption of the oppressor from tiie bondage of 
sin; his rescue by timely repentance from the long deferred judgments of 
heaven ; and his participancy n the ricli blessings of many ready to per- 
ish, are among the objects dearest to our hearts. 

In Particular — 

We seek nothing less than the overthrow of despotism by the principles 
pf freedom ; the termination of oppression by the reign of righteousness 
— the establisiim -nl o( liberty by the supremacy ol law — the conformity of 
law to the spirit of liberty. 

We contend lor the inalienable rights of all men. We plead with our 
*fiuntrym.«n for the pnfrBnrhisemwnt of nil Americans. It is not for fh« 



Declaration and Expose. SI 

Northern people, nor for the Southern. It is not for the white man or for 
the colored man, that we plead. It is for men — for Americans — it is for 
the people of the United States — it is for our country — our whole country 
— our undivided country that we plead. We })lead tor our entire race — 
for r;Uional, immortal and moral beings — fortiie children of our common 
Father — for the purchase of our common Redeemer. We ask for them 
the rights given them by their Creator — the rights they never have forfeit- 
ed — rights identified with their spiritual existence — rights essential to their 
temporal and eternal welfare. 

For the Enslaved — 

The contest we espouse was commenced sim[)ly by a pleading for the 
poor slave ! And this plea we shall never cease to urge. Our voice to 
the oppressor, in the name of the Lord of Hosts, shall still be — " LET 
MY PEOPLE GO THAT THEY MAY SERVE ME !" Restore to 
them their Bibles — their sanctuaries — their Sabbaths — their fire-sides — 
their family sanctities — their unshackled consciences — their deathless in- 
tellects — their undying souls — their liberty to serve their Creator and en- 
joy him forever! To-day — if ye will hear his voice, harden not your 
hearts to say with Pharaoh, " to-morroio .'"* 

For the Free — 

But the contest has now taken a much toider range. The oppressor has 
demanded the subjugation of the free ! Already the work is begun. Lib- 
erty is not only threatened but invaded. 

The oppressors of the Southern laborer, in official documents, have de- 
nied the right of the Northern laborer to freedom! "Bleached or un- 
bleached"t — white or colored — liie Z(i6ormg- man is pronounced "a dan- 
gerous element of the body politic." His enslavement within 25 years is 
confidently predicted ; the aristocracy of the North are urged on pain of 
• a dissolution of the Union, to commence the legislation that is to effect it; 
and the call elicits a cordial response ! 

For the restoration of American Liberty — 
The danger of losing liberty, however, expresses but a small part of 
pur true situation. While some of us pursue our lawful avocations with a 
price fixed upon our heads — while the governments of some of our North- 
ern Slates, instead of repelling tlie outrage, seem desirous of assisting in 
our oppression — while our liberty of speech is invaded by mobs — while 
we live under an usurped and unconstitutional censorship of the press — 
while our right to the use of the public mail is unlawfully denied to us — 
while an executive assumption of judicial power condemns us — en masse — 
to infamy and outlawry without a hearing, without evidence, and without 
trial — when in one half of our country our Constitutional right to travel 
and sojourn in safety has no tangible existence — we are reminded — not so 
inuch of the duty of preserving as oi regaining our liberties. 

In a loord — 
We seek the preservation of our country from the judgments of Heaven — 
the purification of the Church from its deepest stain — the deliverance of 
our own souls from the guilt of shutting our ears to the cry of tlie needy — 
the rescue of our own liberties from the grasp of the oppressor — the res- 
toration of our down-trodden brethren to the condition of human beings. 

Emancipation — Abolition. 
We ask for the emancipation of the Slave — and the Abolition of Slavery. 
To emancipate a slave is to place him out of the reach of the slave 
laws, and govern him by the laws which govern free men. 

To abolish slavery is to repeal the slave laws themselves, so that all the 

1*ExoduF. viii. 10. t Message of Gov. M'Duffie, 



SB Dtcia/aii'Jii ana £xpose. 

subjciLs 01 ILC Siaic ma}' be governed only as free men. Emancipation 
iS " letting the. oppressed go free" — Abolition is " breaking the yoke," 
&o that it cannot again be used.* 

We hold it the duty of every slave master to emancipate his slaves, and 
to do it now. — We hold it the duty of every Legislature of a slave-holding 
community to abolish slavery, and to do it without delay. 

The law of God and the inalienable rights of man unitedly demand this: 
and they equally demand of us, our testimony to this truth. 

Laws 7>rt//it6i7mg- emancipation cannot relieve the master from this duty, 
for he is bound to obey God rather than man, let the consequences be 
what they may. — The objections of slave-holders cannot relieve the Leg- 
islature from the duty of abolishing slavery, because his claim on the 
slave is devoid oi any rit^hteous foundation. — The citizens of the slave 
States are the authors of the slave laws, and the existence of such laws 
is their condemnation — not their excuse. 

To emancipate a slave is to cease holding him as property : — It is to 
deem him a man instead of " deeming him to be mere chattels personal ;" 
It is allowing him to receive wages and acquire property : It is to legal- 
ize his contracts : to entitle him to the conditions of matrimony : It is 
to acknowledge the husband the right (not the mere privilege) of living 
with his wife — of the wife to live with her husband — of the child to 
live with the parent — of the parent to live with the child. It is to 
acknowledge the right of the individual to acquire education — to read 
the Bible — to attend social and public worship. It is to place him un- 
der the protection and government of equal laws. This is emancipation. 
When made universal, by the repeal of the slave laws, it is the abolition 
ol slavery. 

Time — Mode — and Extent. 

We hold that emancipation should be immediate, unconditional, and 
universal. 

It should be Immediate — because, since slavery is a sin, it cannot be 
continued without a continuance of sin : — Because if inalienable rights 
may be withheld, on the score of an expediency of which the legislator 
or the intererested party may be the judge, there can be no possible 
security for the liberty ol any man, or of any community. So that a de- 
nial of this duty is a denial of human rights and a warfare against uni- 
versal liberty. 

It should be unconditional — for the reasons just stated: Because all 
sin should be unconditionally abandoned : Because it is an abrogation of 
all law and all liberty, to extend to a man his rights on conditions : Be- 
cause, there can be none but unrighteous conditions imposed upon a man 
as the sine qua non of allowing him the exercise of his inherent rights! 
A man has a porfect right, for example, to a certain house. May the 
unlawful occupant restore it to him on conditions ! No. But what is any 
man's right in a house, compared with every man's right in himself 1 

It should be Universal — for all the reasons already enumerated : Be- 
cause every man is as much entitled to his inalienable rights as any man 
can be.— If there be a slave on earth who ought not to be immediately 
emancipated, then there is no freeman on earth, who holds any substan- 
tial and valid title to his freedom. 

It is not possible to deny the duty of immediate, unconditional and 
universal emancipation without a i)ractical denial of the great funda- 
mental principles of inalienable human rights, which form the basis of 
all our civil and religious liberties. And these liberties nrc actually de- 
nied and invaded, in various ways, by the opponents of immediate eman- 
cipation. 

*Se« Matllicw Henry's Commentary on Isaiah chapter Iviii. 



Declaration and Expose. 55 

Whe/i any person contends thai emancipation may be deferred, on f c- 
^oiint of existing circumstances, he virtually says that human rights are 
founded, not on human nature, but on circumstances, which is the same 
thing as to say that they are founded on nothing permanent or abiding — 
nothing which may not be swept away at the bidding of our civil rulers I 

Emancipation, whenever it takes place, is, and must be, immediate, in 
respect to the individual emancipated : because there is no medium and 
can be none, between holding a human being as a "chattel personal," 
and deeming him an accountable moral being. The law must either con- 
sider him to be ons or the other — a chattel or a man. If the former, he is 
a slave; it the latter, he is emancipated. 

There never has been and never can be such a thing as a general prepa- 
ration of slaves for emancipation. — All the gradual emancipations that 
have ever taken place, have been gradual only in the sense of making some 
free, while others were retained in bondage — a process confessedly vexa- 
tious, inconvenient and perplexing, insomuch that, in our country, it is 
prohibited by laws forbidding individual emancipations. And there has 
never been any preparatory process to which slaves have ever been admit- 
ted, for their education and improvement, previous to emancipation. And 
the reason is plain. Men only, and not chattels, are the subjects of educa- 
tion, and the laws which hold the slaves as chattels, prohibit, of course, 
their education. A gradual emancipation, therefore, is only a deceptive 
phrase for a de/erred emancipation; deferred, not for the benefit of the 
slave, but always for the emolument of the master. 

Safety — Duty. 

To say that immediate emancipation is not safe, is to say that it is not 
safe for human beings to obey their Creator. 

To deny the safety of immediate emancipation, is to doubt the first prin- 
ciples of common sense — the operations of moral cause and effect, — and 
the testimony of universal experience and history. 

In Chili, in Colombia, at Buenos Ayres, in Mexico, in St. Domingo, at 
the Cape of Good Hope, in the East Indies, among the ancient Romans, 
m the British West Indies, &c. &c., emancipation has been attended with 
uniform and salutary results. The writings of Clarkson and Stuart havo 
triumphantly established this point, and the world has been challenged in 
vain to produce an instance of starvation or bloodshed, in consequence of 
emancipation. 

To say that immediate emancipation is not safe, is to say that it is not 
safe for human beings to be free ! It is to say, what the despots of all ages 
and nations have said, and still say — that the laboring classes of mankind 
are incapable of self-government, and ought to be kept under the control 
of their superiors ! 

Those who deny the present right of all American laborers to freedom, 
have been obliged to deny the present right of any American laborers to 
freedom of speech and of the press. — The contest respecting immediate 
emancipation, has, as a matter of fact, brought the whole country to the 
necessity of a prompt decision of this one question — " Have the laboring 
classes in America a right to the present enjoyment of civil and religious 
freedom ?" There is and can be no other question before us. The same cir- 
cumstances that are said to forbid the present emancipation of the southern 
laborers, are also said to require that northern laborers shall not discuss 
inalienable human rights, nor read or hear any discussions of them ! 

In deciding for or against the duty and safety of immediate emancipation, 
the northern people, of necessity, decide either for or -against the valid't" 
of their own claims to freeAon) 



4^ Declaration arid Expose, 

Excuses — Their Fallacy. 

Bui the slave is not educated. We know it, and therefore we a«k fol- a 
repeal of the laws which /or6i(i his education. He is not educated! Must 
uU our wueducated while men be sold into perpetual slavery and forbidden 
to learn letters 1 He is uneducated ! Must he therelore receive no wages 
ior his labor l Must the day laborer on our wharves or on our larnis be 
told how much learning he tnusl have, before he can be paid his honest 
earnings ? He is uneducated ! Must his wife therefore be torn from his 
bosom and his child from his embraces ] He is uneducated ! Is his life 
therefore to be unprotected! And shall our uneducated laborins; people 
and operatives be shot down as dogs in the streets, (or choosing and chang- 
ing their places of employment and labor? This is the doctrine that defers 
emancipation for want of an education which the slave laws prohibit ? — 
Shall it become the settled doctrine of our country 1 

If am/ circumstances can justify the greatest of all oppressions, then 
circumstances of /ess importance than those alleged against present eman- 
cipation may be urged w'llh greater force in lavor of reducing the common 
people of this country to the condition oi the peasantry of Europe, a condi- 
tion incomparably superior to that of slaves. No emigrants voluntarily 
come among us to be enslaved ! In every view we can take ol tin's subject, 
we are admonished that the question of present emancipation, as the im- 
perious duty of tlie slaveholders, is the vital question of liberty, in the de- 
cision of which is involved the decision of the question whether any por- 
tion of mankind have a right to be free. 

Explanations. 

Emancipation from slavery does not confer the right of suffrage, but we 
contend thai colored ))ersons should be allowed its exercise, as soon as 
they possess the qualifications required of other citizens. They should 
also be aided and countenanced in their endeavors, by moral and intel- 
lectual culture, to become respectable and useful members of societ^y. 

By the emancipation of American laborers, we do not mean that they 
shall be sent out of the country, or turned away from the jjlantations 
where they are needed. We do not mean that tiicy "shall subsist witliout 
labor, or be exempted from tne restraints ol law, or be suffered to roam as 
vagabonds and plunderers. We suppose it possible for Americans 
to labor without being plundered of their earnings — to be governed by 
just laws instead of individual caprice---to cultivate the soil, without 
being driven by the cart whip. 

We do not ask that tliat they shall be harassed, and the country bur- 
dened by an oppressive and vexatious system of apprenticeship for grown 
men, as in Jamaica — but that they shall be employed as free laborers and 
paid equal and just wages, as in Bermuda and Antigua, where they are 
industrious and happy, <uid their employers safe and j)rosperous. 

By the abolition of slavery we mean simply the repeal of the iniquitous 
slave code — the abolition of the unrighteous things wherein slavery con- 
sists — the restoration of men from the condition of" chattels" to the con- 
dition of rational beings. If there are any reasons why this abolition should 
not take place noiv, they are reasons which will be cciually valid, in all 
future time. And they are reasons urged against the inalienable rights oj 
man, and the immutable laws of God! Our principles forbid us to place 
any confidence in such reasons. We repel them as we would repel sug- 
gestions which might urge us to compromise our own moral freedom, and 
cast ofT our allegiance to our Maker ! The considerations wrgerf against 
n present abolition of slavery, should weigh no more, with any well bal- 
anced and conscientious mind, than any other temptation for continuanc* 
m sin ' 



Declaration and Expose, 41 

IV. OF MEANS AND MEASURES. 

We cherish the, hope that no canJid and well iafonned mind will havd 
occasion to sa}', " Wc approve uf your principles but deprecate your 
measures." Our measures are such and such only as our principles oblige 
us to pursue. Tlie measures of Abolitionists are nothing more nor less 
than the honest, uncomproniisiiij;])j-ocZamai/o,>i of their /)rmc/;j/es, through 
the accustomed channels of popular communication, and in the same ways 
and methods that have been and still arc, accounted efficient, laudable and 
praise-worthy, in every other department of Christian reformation. We 
have never yet seen nor heard of an instance of dissent from Anti-Slavery 
visasures, that did not, on the very face of it, convey an evidence of dis- 
sent from some of our fundamental principles. If for example, we are 
blamed as being too vituperative, it is because the objector does not sec 
slavery to be the thing which loe account it to be — or because he does not 
appreciate its sinfulness as loe appreciate it. If we are criticised for us- 
ing epithets, and calling slaveholders men-stealers, it is because the critic 
differs from us, either in respect to the principle and tlie fact, or in respect 
to the duty of declaring the whole truth. If we are reputed to be impru- 
dent, it is by those vv'ho make expediency, and not moral right the stand- 
ard of their prudence. If we are thought rash and precipitate, it is by 
those who do not acknowledge the principles and facts in the view of 
which we are acting. We never fail to convert men to our measures 
when they understandingly and cordially embrace all our principles. TeU 
us what men's principles are, and we cannot fail to foresee their measures. 
Show tis wherein they dissent from our 7neasurcs, and we will point out 
wherein they differ from our jjrmcy'ics. 

Measures Discarded. 

Many })opular plans and measures, oifr principles lead us to disciaiiri 
and repudiate — as well as some which have been wrongfully attributed 
to us. 

It is 7iot by physical force — it is not by political intrigue — it is not by 
exciting a spirit of revenge — it is not by the usurpation of arbitrary powef 
— it is not by doing the work of slaveholders for them, (as we would 
gladly persuade them to do it) that we hope to bring about the Abolitioil 
of Slavery. 

Grounds of this Policy. 

In rejecting- the doctrine which bases moral right upon supposed expe- 
diency, or teaches the expediency, under conceivable circumstances, of 
doing WRONG, we reject, of necessity, the policy of doing evil that good 
may come ; of effecting desirable purposes by unlawful means ; of using 
violence to overthrow violence ; of arraying brute force against brute force; 
of combatting aggression by counte'- aggression ; of overturning usurpa- 
tion by usurpation; of establishing moral liberty by })iiysical coercion; of 
terminating injuries by the spirit of revenge ; of rebuking hatred with the 
instruments of murder; of dethroning tyranny by the torch of insurrec- 
tion. Believing, as we do, that the Creator of all men governs the earth 
in righteousness, and has made it expedient, in all cases, to do right; we 
rely solely on His aid and protection in the exclusive use of those moral 
weapons, which are migiUy, tiirough His Omnipotence, to the pulling- 
down of strong holds. 

Compensation. 

We cannot consent to offer the slave master a compensation. We know 
of nothing that he has done, or is desired to do, which should entitle hhn 
to any. It cannot be for having used his neighbor's services without 
wages — it cannot be for any of the things embodied in the slave code or re- 
pealed in its practical operation — it cannot be for the protection affo'rde<i 



l^ Dechtrat'ton and Expose, 

the slave by the slave laws— it cannot be for having forbidden (he slave to 
learn lo read the Bible — it cannot be lor having separated wives from 
tiieir im<bc>nds and infants from their inothcis — it ciinnot be for any or 
(or all these things that the slave master is entitled to a conijiensa- 
(ion. Nor can it be for ceasing (o do (hesc things, in the case ol' cnianci- 
pulion. Men should never be hired to abandon such disgraccCwl prac- 
tice?, nor will men o! (rue Christian honor receive such a coinpensalion. 

Besides, slaveholding is either a profitable practice, or otherwise. If it , 
is profitable, then the protits of the slave's own labor must have paid the 
niaster long ago, for (he original purchase money, even if he were entitled 
(o be refunded for it. The Greeks and Romans, like (he modern Span- 
iards, always allowed (he slave to go free as soon as he had paid for him- 
self his purchase value. If sla\e holding be profitable, (hen surely two 
centuries of service must have sufiiced for (he compensation due (lie slave- 
holder, even upon (he admission of his claim. But if slaveholding be 7iot 
profitable — if t!ie keeping be worth as much as the labor, then the prop- 
erty in the slave is merely nominal, and of no real value! The master 
can suffer no loss in giving up such property ! How much should be paid 
to a man for the damages done him in taking a>vay a horse, which could 
earn no more than his keeping"? We see no foundation then, for the com- 
pensation of (he master in (his case. If he loses, it is not by emancipation, 
but by (he unproli[(ablc purchase, in the first place. Let him be entreated 
to make a better investment, in future. — Again — 

Emancipation destroys no property — it breaks no bones — it unstrings 
no muscles — the slave can earn as much money alter emancipation as he 
ever could. — There is no i)roperty destroyed. And if it be taken from (he 
wrong claimant and given to the right owner, there can be no compensa- 
tion due to the wrong claimant, on account of t!ie transfer. On the other 
iiand, the slave is " entitled (o compensation^' for his unrequited labor. 
This was required (o be done, under (he law of Moses, by which the ser- 
vant was directed to be set fiee at the Jubilee, with a " compensation" 
from his master.* 

Further. — The history of former experimenfs amply proves (ha( by 
cmancipadng (heir slaves, and paying (hem fair wages, (he mas(crs gain 
money ins(ead of losing it. They save (he immense expense of drivers 
and overseers, iron collars, whips, chains and (humbscrews ! Slave labor 
is wasteful and unprofilable in (he long run, and the Southern States 
would be enriched, nj( impoverished, by emancipation. 

Above nil, we cannot offer (he master a compensation for the slave, 
because i( con(radic(s the fundamental principle that man cannot hold 
j)roperty in man. The moment a co7npen$alion is offered to the master, 
(iic hold u[U)n his conscience is relinquished. The right of jiroperiy is ad- 
mitted, and there? is no room (or charging him with the sin of holding it. 
In the language of a s'avcholder — ''II (iovrrtimcnt could jnirchasc, it 
niiudit hold slaves, if they could biii/ (hey might .s7>//."t It would be doing 
evil that good might come : and turning slaveholder (o do away slave 
holding. II all the slaves should be bought up and set free, without de- 
stroying (he jirinciple of .slavery, (he nias(ers might |)ockct (he compensa- 
tion money, and use it to purchase more slaves (rom abroad. 

The rejection of coinpensation, as a principle ol cinancipadon, we hold 
essn.tial lo the integrity and success of the Anti-Slavery cause: and 
eq .ally so (o (he preservation of correct Christian principles and univer- 
sal IrendoMi. Yet an ajjpropriation for the relief of actual distress, when- 
ever if niie:h( occur, would not be a cumpcnsation. Neither is an equal 

" Dent. .w. 11. 

t Bpoerli of Mr, Roborlson of Virginia, in ('(ingress. Decf niher 2^, 1835. 



Declaration and Expose. 43 

division of losses among; jiarlners in wifkedness a " conipensalion.'^ li 
pecuniary sacrifices should be made by ernancij)alion, and if all the part- 
ners in the guilt of slavery should equafly apportion the sacrifice, it niijj,ht 
be done without involving the principle of compensation. — We can never 
consent to pay men for having sinned — nor offer them money to leave off 
sinning. The world is not to be regenerated in this way ; nor iiave tiie 
graces of Christian penitence and amendment, from the days of Simon 
Magus to the present liour, been purchased with gold and silver. 

ETpatriation. 

We shall not seek the overthrow of oppression by the removal of the 
oppressed — nor the reformation of despots by the diminution of the people 
— nor the eniranchisement of ^/?ie/-itv/7js by their banishment from Ameri- 
ica — nor the cure of hatred by the absence of its object— nor the eradica- 
tion of a wicked prejudice by the means of its gratification — nor the en- 
couragement of free labor by the exportation of free laborers — nor the 
security of liberty by the expatriation of the most ardent lovers of free- 
dom— nor the renovation of America by a new empire in Africa-—nor the 
"civilization'' of one continent by the "uneducated outcasts" of another 
— nor the elevation of our colored population by the removal of the most 
elevated and talented of their number — nor the prosperity oi the Southern 
States by the removal of their most approved and experienced cultivators — 
nor the extinction of slavery by the removal of the free — nor the pro- 
motion of emancipation by the most effectual measure ever devised for 
preventing it. 

Moral Influence. 

We expect not to dissuade men from their sins by concealmg from Ihcm 
the fact that their conduct is sinful. We anticipate no successful war- 
fare against any vice, with the weapons of a politeness that cannot call 
it by its distinct, specific, definite and proper scripture name. 

We understand not the 'moral influence' which presents no moral mo- 
tives and appeals to no moral law : — which urges no moral sanctions and 
is armed with no moral principles. 

We wield not the system of ethics that talks of a sin without a sinner 
— of a theft without a thief" — of a robbery without a robber — of oppression 
without an oppressor — of evil fruit without a corrupt tree — of the cor- 
rection of public abuses by a public sentinient that cannot say — " By 
their fruits shall ye know them.'' 

We study not the art of reproving men's sms without ' impeaching men's 

motives,'' of convincing men of guilt, by attesting the purity of their m- 

tentions — of bringing men to repentuice, by denying their power of moral 
perception — of inducing them to abandon robbery, by assuring them tliat 
they have practiced it all their lives long, without knowing it ! 

We shall not hold ourselves bound to cease from showing the house of 
Jacob their sin, lest it should disturb the peace of the Churches ; or even 
wound the feelings of a man " after God's own heart.'' 

We shall not adopt tiie sentiment that all indignation against iniquity is 
sinful : — on the oth«r hand we shall strive to 'be angry and sin not :' re- 
membering that there is a holy as well as an unholy anger — that Jesus 
himself 'looked round upon the people witii anger, being grieved at the 
hardness of their hearts' — that 'God is angry with the wicked every day,' 
and commands them that fear the I^ord to hate evil- 

We siiall not assume it as a fact in mental science, that the power of 
truth upon a sinner's conscience, depends upon his ■)iot suspecting: that 
we desire his self- application of it. We shall not deem it an unpar- 
donable personality to say to tiie tilled transgressor — " Thou art the 
man," — nor evidence of an 'unchristian spirit' to use the language of 
Christ — nor " vituperation" to "speak the words which the Holy Ghost 
fearheth'' — nor headstrong to persevere, " whether men will hear or 



4i Declaration and Expose, 

ivhether they will iorbear" — nor unduly, ' censorious' to censure wliorii 
• ruth and scripture censure — nor too denunciatory to announce God's re- 
vealed judgments— nor too harsh to say "Woe to the wicked," when He 
commands us to say "Woe to the wicked" — nor rash to s«and where Om- 
nipotent Justice and Mercy stand — nor impiudent to abide under the 
shadow ol the Almighty. 

Felloio-Laborers. 

In pleadinjj for the rights of freemen, we sliall not deem it inexpedient 
nor disorganizing to appeal to freenjcn themselves, to the great body of 
our equal fellow citizens. In a moral warfare against Aristocracy, we 
shall not rely on the aid of aristocratic injlucnce. We shall not deem it 
needful to select the reputedly wise, the scribe, the disputer of this world, 
the mighty, the rich, the noble, to the exclusive confidence of our counsels. 
But few of them, we fear, are called to this holy cnlerpiize; while "God 
hath chosen the foolish tilings of tiiis world to confound the wise, and the 
weak things of this world to confound the things which are mighty, and 
base things of this world, and the things which are despised, yea, and 
things that are not, to bring to nought the things that are, that no ilesh 
should glory in his presence." 

We shall not adopt the policy of abandoning the fried friends of the 
cause, because their early faithfulness has made them unpopular, — nor 
thrust them aside to make way for those who ofler to espouse our cause, 
pnly on condition that ihej' shall have the pre-eminence. 

In pleading for the ivrongs of woman, we shall not spurn woman's aid. 
Nor shall we count it unmanly to be fellow-laborers with those women 
who labor much in the Lord ; nor effeminate to be ministered unto, by 
those wiio, in ministering to our Divine Master, were — " Last at his cross 
and earliest at his grave." We shall not seek to symbolize with that 
heathenism and infidelity which would deny to the female sex a partici- 
pancy in our rational and immortal nature; and exclude from an active 
influence in the welfare of their species, one Valf of the human family, and 
Ihut half, too, by whom the earliest and deepest moral impressions are 
formed. 

In seeking to instruct mankind in the great precepts of the Divine law ; 
and the grand duties of man to his fellow man ; — in striving to perpetuate 
our civil and religious liberties to the latest posterity — to avert from 
our country the judgments of Heaven, and to cast up a highway for 
our God, we shall not deem it a weak and puerile device to teach these 
things diligently to our children, and train them up in the way they 
should go. Nor sliall we coldly rebuke, when children cry — " Hosan- 
na, blessed is he that comcth in the name of the Lord." 

Measures to be pursued. — Doctrine and Language. 

We promise to cry aloud, and spare not, to lift up our voice like a 
(rumpet, and show the people their transgression, and the house of Jacob 
their sins. Isaiah Iviii. 1. 

We will " take counsel, execute judgment, make our shadow as the 
night in the midst of noon day : iiide the outcasts, bewray not him that 
wandcreth ; let the outcasts dwell with us, and be a covert to them 
from the face of the spoHer." Isaiah, xvi. 3. 

We will ' not vex a stranger — nor 0])prcss him. If our brother be 
waxen poor, and fallen in decay with us, wc will relieve him. Yea, 
Ihougli he be a stranger or a sojourner, that he may dwell with us.' — 
Lev. XXV. 35. 

We will " take away from the midst of us" — " the putting forth the 
finger" o( scorn — and " speaking vanity," and arrogancy. Isa. Iviii. &c. 

Wo will seek to " deliver the poor that cry, the fatherless, and him 
that hath none to help him."—" The cause which wc knew not, wc w\\\ 
search ont ' Job. xxix. 12, l-**. 



Declaration and Expose. 45 

We will seek to "defend the poor and fatherless, do justice to the af- 
flicted and needy— to deliver the poor and need) — rid them out of the hand 
of the wicked." Ps. Ixxxii. 3, 4. 

We will endeavor to do this — . „ , 

By 'onenin<^ our mouth for the dumb, in the cause of all such as are 
app6inted to d'estruclion— by jud^in- righteously, and pleading the causa 
of the poor and needy.' Prov. x.xxi. S, 9. 

Bv ' judgino; the fatherless, and pleading for the widow. Isa. i. 17. 

Wc will''' despise the gain of oppression, and shake our hands from the 
holdiu-- of bribes.' Isa. sxxiii. 15. , , , 

We will not ' stop our ears from hearing blood, nor shut our eyes from 

seeing evil.' — lb. . , - ., ,, , , 

We will ' deal our bread to the hungry, and brmg the poor that are cast 
out to our house. When \V3 see the naked, we will cover him, and not 
hide ourselves from our own flesh.' Isa. Iviii. 7. 

We will ' cast up, prepare the way, and take up the stumbling block 
out of the way of the people.' Isa. Ivii. 14. In this manner 

We will seek to ' execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him 
that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor.' Jer. xxi. 12. 

We will ' feed the flock of the slaughter, whose possessors slay them 
and hold themselves not guilty ; and they that se'.l them say— Blessed be 
the Lord, for I am rich, and their own shepherds pity them not. — 

Zee. xi. 4, 5. ,,.,••.• 

We will bear ' witness against those that oppress the hireling in his wa-. 
ges, the widow and' the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from 
his 'right— not fearing the Lord of Hosts.' Mai. iii.5. 
By loving our neighbor as ourselves— 

By doing unto others as we would have others do unto us— 
By remeinbering them that are in bonds as bound with them. Heb. 
xiii. 3. 

By loving one another as our Redeemer loved us — 
By beiniTmerciful as our Father in heaven is merciful^ 
By beinii a neighbor to them who are fallen among thieves — 
Bv preaching the Gospel to the poor***deliverance to the captives, and 
reco'vering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised — 
By teachino masters to give unto servants that which is just and equal — 
By remembering that ' rich men oppress' our fellow Christians. — 
James, ii. 6. 

By not having respect to persons, lest we commit sin— lb. 9. 
By teaching and remembering that 'he that loveth not his brother 
abideth in death.' 1 John, iii. 14. That 'if a man love not his brother 
whom he hath seen, he cannot love God whom he hath not seen' — 
1 John, iv.20. That if a man say 'I love God,' and hateth his broth- 
er, he is a liar.' John, iv. 20. 

By proclaiming in the ears of American oppressors — 
" Go to, now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that 
shall come' upon you. Your riches is corrupted, and your garments 
are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust of 
them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were 
fire. Behold the hire of your laborers, v.ho have reaped down your 
fields, which is of you kept back by fraud crieth, and the cries of them 
which have reaped, are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." 
— James, v. 4. 

By protesting to American statesmen — 



to 



" Her princes in the midst thereof, " are like wolves ravening the prey, 
shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain." Ezek. xxii. 27, 



4*6 Declaration and Expose, 

By adding, (as did the ancient prophet,) to their clerical apologists — 

" And her prophets have daubed them witli vintemiicred mortar, seeing 
vanity, and divinini^ lies unto them saying — " Thus saith the Lord God, 
when the Lord hatli not spoken " Ezek. xxii. 23. 

By tcstilying to the people of this nation, 

" The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, 
and have vexed the poor and needy : yea, they have oppressed the stranger 
wrongfully. Ezek. xxii. 29. Tiiey traded the penons of men and vessels 
of bras'! in thy market." — Ezek. xxvii. 13. 

By boldly reproving the American Aristocracy who ha\e set their mouth 
against the heavens, and their tongue walkelh through the earth — that wid- 
ows may be their prey, a.ul tliat they rnay rob the lalherless — 

By detecting and exposing their deeds of violence and deceit, and ap- 
plying to the central seats of their iniquity and Iheir pride, the annuncia- 
tions of hoi}' writ — 

" Woe to the bloody city — it is full o( lies and robbery — the prey depprt- 
eth not; tlie noise of tiic whip * * * * because of the multitude of the 
whoredoms of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that 
eclleth nations tlirough her whoredoms, and Jamilics through her witch- 
craft.' — Nalium, iii. 1, 4. — " Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment 
doth never go forth ; for the wicked doth compass about the righteous, 
therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.'' — Hab. i. 4. — "Behold, I am 
against thee, sailh the Lord of Hosts. * - * * I \y\\\ cast abominable filth 
upon thee and make thee vile. * * • * All thy strong holds shall be like 
fig trees with the first ripe figs. * * " * The gates of thy land shall be set 
wide open to thy enemies. — The fire shall devour thy bars.'' — Nahum, iii. 
6, 12, 13. 

By declaring to American legislators — 

" Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write griev- 
ousness that they have prescribed — to turn aside the needy from judg- 
ment, and to take away the right of the poor of my people." — Isa. x. 1,2. 

By solemnly warning the American churches — 

"if the salt hath lost his savor,wherewitli shall it be salted 1 It is thence- 
forth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of 
rnen."— Mat. v. 13. 

" Trust ye not in lying words — saying, * the temple of the Lord — the 
temple of the Lord — the temple of the Lord are these. For if ye thor- 
ougidy amend your ways and your doings, if ye thoroughly execute judg- 
ment between a vian and his neighbor — if ye oppress not the strajigcr, the 
fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, 
neither walk after other gods to your hurt ; — Then will I cause you to 
dwell in this place ; in the land that I gave unto your fathers, forever and 
ever. Behold, ye trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will ye steal, 
murder, and commit adultery ♦ * ♦ and come and stand before me in this 
house 1 ♦ ♦ ♦ • Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of 
robbers in your eyes 1 — Behold, even I have seen it, saith the Lord. — Cut 
off thy hair, O Jerusalem ! and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on 
high places ; for the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of 
his wrath."— Jcrh. vii. 1, 11, 20. 

By repealing llie words of the meek and charitable Lamb of God, in the 
ears of oppressors who sit in the seals of INIoses and the Apostles, and 
forbid their servants to " search the Scriptures,'' who reprove not oppres- 
sion themselves nor suflcr their brethren to do so — 

" Woe unto you scribes and pharisees, hypocrites, for ye shut up the 
kingdom of heaven against men : for yc neither go in yourselves, neither 
sutfer ye them that are entering to go in. Ye bind heavy burdens and 
grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders, but ye will not 



Declaration and Expose. 4t 



move theia with one of your fingers.'' *' Ye devour widows' houses, and 
for a pretence make long prayer, therefore ye shall receive the greater 
damnation." — INIal. xxiii. 4, 13, 14. 

In thus rightly dividing tlie word of truth, and giving to ea; h a portion in 
due season, we shall seek to apply llie fust principles ol the oracles of God, 
to tlie people of our own age and nalinn. To attain this end we shall care- 
iully acquire and industriously communicate a knowledge o{ fads respect- 
ing the oppressions that are done in the land ; and in illustration of the 
divine promises of prosperity and protection to those who repent of their 
oppressions. 

Ground of Encouragement — Mode of Operation. 

Believing that the laws of God and the rights of mun ought to be un- 
derstood, taught, mid mninfained — believing that ' that n^hich OUGHT tu 
be done CAN be done''^ — that God has decreed that it shall be done — and 
predicted that it ivill be done — believing that all w ho iear God and regard 
man are commanded to come up to the help of tlie Lord against the migh- 
ty, and perceiving that those who aie for us arc more than tiiey that be 
against us — we would ' manfully resohe,' in his name and in his strengtli, 
that ' it sliall be done' — that ' this evil' of ojipression, ' which curses earth 
and affronts iieaven, 7nust and shall be removed.' Upon this work ' we 
are resolved, and hold ourselves like Joshua of old, publicly and solemnly 
pledged.' Tlie ' righteous object' must be attained — and by righteous 
means — ' on the highway of honest endeavor' — kot " through the by- 
ways of duplicity and stratagem''" — not by holding one face to the North, 
and another to the South — not by declaring slavery a moral evil, yet plead- 
ing that it is sanctioned by scripture — or cannot be abandoned with safety 
— not by artful devices to undermine slavery without letting the slavehol- 
der know it---not by ' misrejiresentation, or falsehood, or petty manage- 
ment, or deep stratagem^ — not by ' measures fraudulent or coercive,' 
either upon the oppressor or the oppressed — not by tlie absurdity of resort- 
ing to wrong measures to attain a good end — not by the use of ' ijnmoral 
means in a work of moral reform' — ' sanctioned by the authority and 
example of great names' — not by the advocacy of wild and worldly schemes 
which common sense and common arithmetic might prove 'impracti- 
cable,'"' — but by the weapons of warfare which are not carnal, but spirit- 
ual, and mighty, through Omnipotent Goodness, to the pulling down of 
strong holds. 

In the prosecution of our labors we shall endeavor to " cease Irom" re- 
posing our trust 'in man, whose breath is in his nostrils,' remenibering 
that ' in the Lord Jehovah is unerring wisdom and everlasting strength.' 
We shall not " go down into Egypt for help," nor " trust in the chariots 
and horsemen" of earthly pride and power. — We shall take no counsel of 
the gods of the heathen, nor of the idolized oracles of a selfish and Avorld- 
ly Expediency — an expediency which annuls conscience, confounds moral 
distinctions, adjudges gain to be godliness, compromises with crime, puts 
darkness for light and light for darkness, mocks at moral obligat on, re- 
vokes the Divine law, and usurps the throne of the Eternal. 

In opposition to her dictates we shall hold it " an axiom in morals to call 
things by their right names" — not putting bitter for sweet, nor sweet for 
bitter — but making a difference between the jirecious and the vile — re- 
nouncing the hidden things of dishonesty — not handling the word of God 
deceitfully, but 'commending ourselves to every man's conscience, m the 

sight of God, BY A MANIFESTATION OF THE TRI^TH.' 

By the pulpit and by the press — by the distribution of tracts and peri- 
odical publications — by sustaining public lecturers — and through all the 

♦ Lit. and Theol. Review, No. 8, Article Radicalism. 



48 Declaration and Expose. 



lawful and accustomeil mediums of communication with the jiublic mind, 
we shiill inculcate these |)rinci})lcs, convey a knowledge of these facts, ex- 
hibit tlic importance of these objects, and solicit a support of these meas- 
ures. 

By organizing Anti-Slavery Associations in this State for the support 
of these ])rinciples, objects, tuicl measures, and by sustaining the efforts of 
kindred Associations, every where, we shall endeavor to marshal the 
friends of liberty, peace, and law, against the minions of despotism, vio- 
lence, and disorder. — By the same means we shall give publicity and effi- 
ciency to individual testimony against oppression and sin, and act as an 
organ through which every individual, however obscure and humble, may 
make his voice heard wherever the knowledge of our efforts is made 
known. 

By petitioning Congress for the Abolition of Slavery in the District of 
Columbia and Territories subject to the jurisdiction of Congress, we shall 
seek to clear our own skirts, as American citizens, of the guilt of slavery 
there (wiiere we parlici[»ate in the legislative power under which it'is sanc- 
tioned) and set an e.\ami)le to our fellow-citizens in the slave States, 
which they may imitate by similar petitions to their own State Legisla- 
tures. 

By faithful, yet affectionate appeals to our fellow-citizens of the South- 
ern States, by the exertion of our influence for the purification of the 
churches — by a preference for the products of free labor over that of 
slaves. 

At home and abroad, in tiie hou-se and by t!ie way, in the social circle 
and at the domestic tire side, we will bear testimony against the sin of 
oppression — vindicate tiie claims of the Divine law, and assert the inalien- 
able rights of all human beings. 

Through evil report and good report — through honor and dishonor — in 
much patience — in alTiictions — in stripes — in inii>risonments — in labors, 
in watchings, in fastings, in prayers — giving no offence in any thing — 

By pureness, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the 
Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the power of God, by the armor of 
rigliteousness on tiie riglit hand and on the left — 

For liie enfranchisement of tiie slave — for the best good of the master 
— for tiie spiritual liberty of bond and free — for the salvation of our belov- 
ed country — for ourselves — for our posterity — 

To deliver our own souls from the stain of blood — to establish the true 
princijiles of civil and religious freedom — to magnify the law of God and 
make it honorable- --to prepare the way of tlie Lord and make liis paths 
straight---to remove the stumbling blocks from the higliway 6f righteous- 
iiess---to lay the foundations of many generations- -to urge on the trium- 
phal chariot of the Millcnnium--- 

For the cause of holy freedom fhroughout the world---for the final 
triumph of peace on earth and good will to man---for the cause of truth, 
of rigliteousness, and of God--- 

For THESE ol)jects---upon these principles---in view of these facts — 
and by the use of these means-— and in this strength will we labor — 
and we solemnly charge ourselves— -each otiier---and our children and 
successors who may survive us — lo continue this labor- --to live i;i it, and 
for it--- 

Tili the meek shall inherit the carth---till the wicked shall not be---till 
oppression and \i()ience shall be dune awav-- till (hero be none to hurt OT 
to destroy ---till the upright shall deliu'lit ihmiselees in tlie abundance of 
peace---till every slave shall become the freeman of the Lord, and every 
master the servant of Jesus Christ---till every fetter of sin shall be bro- 
kpn--till the nations are made free \sith the liberlv wherewith Chris* 



Declaration and Expose. -i^ 

iaaketli hi5 people free — lill, Iroia l!ie ends of the earth, soags shall 
be heard, even glory to the righteous ! 

V. APPEAL. 

To THE People of Rhode-Island. 

Fellow Citizens ! We have now given you a full and explicit expose ol 
o\iT principles, our objects and our measures. We have spread out before 
you the facts which impel us to action. 

Are not our principles your principles 1 The principles upon which 
the State of Rhode-Island was originally founded 1 tor the vindication of 
which the illustrious Roger Williams once suffered the same persecu- 
tions we now suffer 1 and for the preservation and enjoyment of which, 
two centuries ago, this present month, he established on this soil, " an 
asylum for the oppressed of all nations^' ? 

Are not the facts we have exhibited, as interesting to yourselves as to 
us 1 And can you devise or imagine, in view of the crisis whicli these 
facts present, any means of preserving the civil and religious liberties of 
Rhode-Island, without a prompt and vigorous support of the measures we 
propose 1 

Object of Founding this Commonwealth. 

It was fo maintain inviolate the inalienable rights of man — it was to fur- 
nish a ' refuge for the oppressed of all nations' — it was to establish, on their 
broadest basis, the principles and practices of civil and religious liberty — 
it was, in an especial manner, to maintain the liberty ' to know, to argue, 
to utter freely, according to the dictates of conscience' — it was specifical- 
ly to deny ' \he dangerous ftillacy' that the civil magistrate may ' restrain 
the profession and propagation of principles, on supposition of their ill- 
tendencyj' that not only Roger Williams, but his associates and success- 
ors laid the foundations of this Commonwealth on those massive rocks of 
divine Truth, which revolutions and ages have been unable yet to re- 
move. 

Early Principles of Rhode-Island. 

Among the early archives of our State, we find that memorable "Act 
concerning Religious Freedom," which has rendered Rhode- Island, in re- 
spect to her civil and religious institutions, the glory of all lands. Permit 
us to record an extract from the preamble to that instrument by the side 
of our own exposition of tlie same fundamental and all important prin- 
ciples. 

" That to suffer the civil magistrate to intrude his power into the field 
of opinions, and restrain tiie profession or propagation of principles on 
supposition of their ill-tendency, is a dangerous fallacy, which at once de- 
stroys all religious liberty, because he, being, of course, judge of that ten- 
dency, will make his opinions the rule of judgment, and ap^prove or con- 
demn the sentiments of others, only as they shall square with, or differ 
from his own : — that it is time enoug'a for the riglitful purposes of civil 
government, for its officers to interfere, when principles break forth into 
overt acts against peace and good order:— and finally, that truth is great 
and wdl prevail, if left to herself; that she is the proper and sufficient an- 
tagonist of error, and has nothing to fear from the conflict, unless by hu- 
man interposition disarmed of her natural weapons, free argument 
AND debate; errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely 
to counteract them." 

Assault on these Principles. 

How noble the sentiment ! How lucid the exposition ! How demon- 
strative the argument ! How safe the conclusion ! How certain that 
none save those conscious of seeking the support of error, could wish its 
subversion! And yet it is gravely proposed to demolish this fair temple of 



5D Declaration and Expose. 

frecfiom, 1)V penal ea u-tirienls ag-.>.inst freedom of speech and of ihe press! 
Citizens of Rhodc-IsUuHl ! Arc yoii ready for the surrendry 1 The de- 
'iiantl is made ! There are numerous and powerful advocates, even at 
the North, for a compliance witli the demand. The question is before the 
nation ; and tl'.erc can be no neutrals. The decision is now forining. On 
which tide wiU llie citizens of RHODE-IsLA^'D arrange themstdves? 

Arts of Deception. 

You iiave been told by the minions of ari?focracy and despotism, that 
Aholilionisis seek to violate the United States Constitution ! Thoy would 
ha'.e you believe this ; and they would have your indiiination against them 
•70 fatally roused, that their oicn daring infractions of the U. S. Constitu- 
tion in their unlawful persecution n)ny pass unnoticed by you ! 

Ask tho-n to tell you, if they can, wherein Abolitionists have violated, 
or sought to violate the Constitution. They have sought to do nothing by 
force. They have asked for no abolition of slavery in the Southern 
Slates by the legislation of Congress. — No. — They have only written and 
y.poken out their minds freely against slavery. And this they have a right 
to do; not only by the law of God, which no civil magistrate may lawfully 
nullify, but under the direct sanction of tlie United States Constitution it- 
s<df, whicii cxprer.s!y provides for "freedom of speech and of the press." 

Pretended Compromise of your Liberties ! 

Eut you are told of the 'compact' and of the ' compromise' which was 
entered into wlien the U. S. Constitution was formed. Wi'o were the 
parties to that compact and compromise! What are its provisions! 
Where is their recorcl! And wluit ivas it that was given uj- 1 Did the 
freemen of Rhode-Island relinquish "the liberty to know! to utter! 
to argue freely, according to the dictates (f conscience"! Did they 
promise to say nothing against the sin of slavery! 

If they did, the ' com])act' could not bind their /(os/en/i/. In saying 
this, we only repeat the avowed doctrine of the people of Rhode-Island, 
as we shall soon sliow. 

Falsehood Exposed. 

But no SUCH ' compromise' ivas made. — When a Constitution lor the 
United Stateg was prepared, it devolved on the several States to ratify or 
reject it, ai their [ileasure. Wliat was done by the State of Rhode-Is- 
land, on that occa.sioii ! Why, the people appointed delegates to a Con- 
vention. The result of their deliberations was a documeni from which 
we present you a iew extracts 

" We the delegates of the peo|)le of the State of Rhode-Island and 
Providence Plantations, duly elected and met in Conventu)n, having tna- 
lurely considered the Constitution for the United States of Ameiica, &c. 
&c. * * * do declare and make known, 

" I. That there are <erlain natural rigiits, of w liich men, when they form 
a social c<)m|)act, cannot deprive itieir posterity, among which are the en- 
joy tncnt of life and liberty, with the means of acquiiing, jH)ssessing, and 
protectint: properly, and |)ursuing and ol)taining happiness and safety." 

" IV"^. That (ill men ha\(! an equal, natuial and inalienable right to the 
exercise of religion, according to the (/?(7(;/<?.s (T/'co/isr«ncc." * * * 

" VII. That — all [)ower ol siispcndins; latrs or the execution of laws, 
by any authority, without the consent ot the representatives of the people 
in the Legislature, is injurifius to their rights, and ouirlit not lo be cxcr- 
ciseil." * * « ■ 

" XV. That Ihe people have a right to assemble together, to consult 
for their coinmon p:ood, or lo'mslrucl their re|>resentativcs. and that any 
pcjvon has a right lo |tetition, or ajiply to the legislature for a redress of 
grievances.'" ' ' 



Declaration and Expose, 51 

" XVI. That the. people have a right to freedom of speech, and of lurit- 
ing and publishing their ssntimsnts. T/uit freedom of the press is one 
ol' tho greatest bulwarks of liberty, and oiiglil not to be violated. 

"Under tliese impressions, and (icclaring iliat tbe rights aforesaid can- 
not BE ABRIDGED, and that the explanations aforesaid arc consistent with 
the said Constitution, and in conii(!ence that the amendments hereafter 
mentioned will receive an early and mature deliberation, and conformably 
to the 5th article of said Constitution, speedily become parts thereof — 
We, the said delegates, in the name, and on behalf of the })eople of the 
State of Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations, do by these presents 
assent to and ratify the said Constitution. ' — 

Among the proposed " Amendments'' above mentioned, was tiic follow- 
ing : 

" XVII. As a frafiiic tending to establish or continue the slavery of any 
part of the human species, is disgracful to the cause of liberty and human- 
ity; that Congress, as soon as may be, promote and establish sucii laws as 
may efTectually prevent the importation of slaves, of any description, into 
the United States." 

Such were the " impressions" and "declarations" of the people of (he 
State of Rhode-Island, in ratifying the Constitution of the United States. 
Such was the "confidence" they expressed, in the adoption of the amend- 
ment against slavery, which they proj)osed to be made in that Constitution. 
They declared that no " compacts ' of any people could deprive their 
posterity of their inalienable rights. — Among these rights they specified 
the rights of conscience, including, of course, the right to reprove sin ! — 
They protested against that arbitrary suspension of laws, without legisla- 
tive authority, by which the United States Mail has been, during fhe last 
year, feloniously pillaged, and the right of the people to "publish (heir 
sentiments" unconstitutionally invaded — they asserted the right of the peo- 
ple to assemble — their right to freedom of speech and of the press — and 
with those "explanations" they ratified the Constitution, declaring its 
provisions, in their view, consistent with the same. 

They thus asserted all the rights ivhich Abolitionists now assert under 
the United States Constitution. Nay more. They proceeded to exer- 
cise those rights by bearing the same testimony against the con- 
tinuance OP SLAVERY, lohich Abolitionists now bear, and for doing 
ivhich they are now accused of violating the compromises and compacts 
of the United Slates Constitution ! 

Yes ! So far from giving up the right of her citizens to write and pub- 
lish against slavery, tlie State of Rhode-Island herself-^iUc veopi^e — with- 
out a dissenting voice, expressly asserted and exercised the right of 
speaking, writing, and publishing against slavery, in the very act of rat- 
ifying the United States Constitution ! 

Claims of the South. 
Why did not ' the South' take her exceptions, then, if she thought it 
best for her to do so"? Why did she not send back the ratification of 
Rhode-Island as " an incendiary pami>hlet," and "suspend the laws" to 
pillage it frojn the mails'? — JVIiy? Because the ' Spirit of 76' was yet 
abroad in the land ! Because Northern freemen had not yet learned to 
cower before the slave driver's lash, and because a Northern aristocracy 
were not yet added to the " last and lowest, afeculuin of beings — the most 
abject, degraded, unprincipled race — always cap in hand to (he Dons wb.o 
employ them, and furnishing materials for the exercise of their pride, inso- 
lence, and spirit of domination.''* 

Freemen of Rhode-Island ! Are you ready to become slaves^ — With 

* Will's Life of Padick Henry. 



02 



Declaration and Expose. 



all the laws ol nature and of Nature's God on your side — with the writ- 
ten charier of your liberties — the Bible — in your hands — with the soil oi 
R'-igar Williams under your feet — with the Rock of Plymouth under your 
eye — with your own ' Act of Religious Freedom' in your statute books — 
with your own ratification of ihe Federal Constitution before you — with 
tliat Constitution itselt for your jruaranty — arc you ready to make ship- 
wreck of the whole, and become slavesi 

To what end would you do this 1 — To save the United States Constitu- 
tion 1 — Was this llie "compromise" of its adoption"? — No. — Would the 
Constitution be saved by your enslavement 1 — No. — The aristocracy may 
tell you so, but they know better. — That instrument was designed lor the 
banner, not for the loinding sheet of Freedom ! Would it be worth your 
preservation, at such a sacrifice'? — No. — You cherish it as you cherish 
freedom. — Its enemies only will ask you io relinquish freevom io pre- 
serve it I 

Violators of the Constitution. 
It is tlic Aristocracy and not the AhcAitionists , whom they contemn, 
that have tramjded the U. S. Constitution under foot! In its letter and 
in its spirit, they have set it at nought. By their lawless violence, by 
their outrages on tlie U. S. Mail, and by their proscription of free discuss- 
ion, have they done it. And they now meditate further inroads upon it, 
l)y legislation against freedom of" speed), and of the press. To secure 
your aid they tell you that the Abolitionists are opposed to the Constitu- 
tion, and must be ' put down.' Yes ! Must be ' put down' by violating 
the Constitution .' ' The Union,' they pretend, is in danger, and to safe 
it, tliey must crucify Freedom! And they wonld have you believe that 
in ratifying the Coiistitution of the United Slates, you made a " solemn 
compact" to sacrifice your liberties upon the shrine oi slavery .' — Impu- 
dent pretension ! Its confident and oft reiterated assertion should suflice 
to assure you that they would he glad to have it so .' But it is 7iot so : 
and if you are true to yourselves, to your country, to your race, and to 
your God, it never will be so ! 

JVky should you relinquish Liberty? 
You do not intend to become slaves. — Tiiere is no good reason that 
you should. What could you gain by it 1 Notiiing but the miserable re- 
flect on tiiat the loss of your liberty of speccli Iiad served to rivet the fet- 
ters upon the Southern slave. — The Soutli demands tliat freedom of speech 
and of tiic press shall be relinquisiied at the North, that tlic aristocracy of 
the South may be unreprovcd in tlicir practice of holding slaves ! Says 
tlic U. S. Telegraph — one of the most violent of our opposcrs — " We do 
not believe that the Abolitionists intend, nor could it tiiey would, excite 
the slaves to insurrection. We have, n^.ost to fear from the organized ac- 
tion upon the consciences and fears of the slaveholders tltcmselves — from 
the insinuation of their dangerous heresies into our schools, our pulpits, 
and our domestic circles. It is only by ' alarming the consciences of the 
weak and feeble, and diffusing among our own people a morbid sensibility 
on the question of slavery, that the Abolitionists can accomplish their 
object." 

Citizens of Rhode-Island ! Do you think that freedom of speech and 
of the press ought to be ' put down' at the North, because its honest ex- 
ercise troubles the consciences of slaveholders ! — because one after another 
among them, like James G. Birney of Kentucky, is con\inced by Aboli- 
tionists, of the duty of emancipating his slaves "? Must freedom be strang- 
led at llie Nortli, for fear ils cnnlvigion will aflecl (!i(> sl;i\o holder of the 
South ? 

'Jlireats of Despotism. 
Hear tfie language of (iov. M'Duffie, of Soutli Carolina. 
" It is my deliberate o[)inion that (lie laws of every coniinunily sluuld 



Declaration and Expose. oS 

punisli this species of interference, by death without benicfit of 
CLERGY."—" It will thereCorc become our imporiov.^ duty— lo demaiul oJ 
our sovereign associates the condign punishment of those enemies o! 
our peace who avail thci.isflves of the sanctuaries of their respective ju- 
risdictions, to carry on schemes of incendiary hostility against the institu- 
tions, the safety, and the existence of the State." 

Hear him still further: ,. . , -i • .i 

" Domestic slavery, thcrefere, so far from being a political evil, is tt.e 
corner stone of our republican edifice." 

This conclusion was drawn from a previous argument in which the la- 
boring people " bleached or unbleached" [i. e. white or colored] were de- 
clared "a dangerous element of the body politic,'' and the prediction was 
uttered that "in less than a quarter of a century the non-slaveholding 
Slates would establish a similar institution"— the institution of slavery . 

Citizens of Rhode-Island ! What tiiink vou of sentiments and demands 
like Ihesel They fall upon your ears perhaps, like the rumbling of dis- 
tant thunder. Tliey come from South Carolina, and from that remote re- 
gion vou expect little injury. You smile at the ravings of the madman 
who, "you know, cannot reach you. But what if the infection is spreading 
among vour neighbors, nay, the inmates of your own dwellings 1 

Hear the language of a religious teacher and a learned counsellor of the 
law in Boston — * 

" It is to be hoped and expected that Massachusetts will enact laws de- 
claring the printincT, publishing, and circulating papers and pamphlets on 
slavery; and also the holding oV meetings to discuss Slavery and i\bolition 
to be PUBLIC, iNDiCTABLE^OFFENCES, and provide for tho punishment 
thereof, in such a manner as will most effectually prevent such 

offences"! r i, /-^ 

Compare this, at your leisure, with the cautions l.nguage of the Gover- 
nor of Massachusetts, in his late speech, apparently designed as a feeler, 
to ascertain how far the public opinion will warrant the open proposal of 
such doctrines.— He intimates that such publications are ' offences indict- 
able at common law.' 

Hear also the language of Gov. Marcy, of the powerful State of New- 
York : " ,, 

" Without the power to pass such laws, the States would not possess all 
the necessary means for preserving their external relations of peace among 
themselves," &c. 

It matters little to our argument that the present exercise of this power 
is waived, by Gov. Marcy, as inexpedient. Its assertion would never have 
been ventured upon, if the aristocracy of the North were not on the point 
of concentrating thuir forces for some such struggle against the people, and 
if they were not already bold in conscious strength. 

We might name to you statesmen of Rhode-Island, invested with legis- 
lative power, who have not scrupled to avow similar views. t We might 
remind you that laws have already been enacted in Connecticut for prohi- 
biting education, and involving a kindred principle, and equally an in- 
fringement of the Constitution^both of that State and of the U. States. 

Suffice it to add, that Theological Literature is bringing forward her 
contribution of^ anathemas to deepen the general note of conservative pre- 
paration for the onset. She talks largely of " the sword and of the keys"_ 
— proclaims, " with unwavering confidence," the ' divine' right of the civil 
magistrate— denounces the " Radical Spirit" of those in our country who 

* Messrs. T. R. and Willam Sullivan, in a pamphlet written and published by 
them. 

t Since the sitting of our Convention, resolutions and an act designed to punish 
such publications, have been reported in the Legislature of Rhode-Island. 



54 Declaration and Expose. 

hid " banded themselves" against oppression and against wine, as beiug- 
" Irauglit with contempt of civil institutions," and enveloping the "germ 
of crime" — pronounces "et'er// ma?ine7- of contempt, and even an evil word 
spoken against Uieni" forbidden of God ; and whatever else lends not only 
to subvert these mstitutions, but in any tcay impair their power, " capi- 
tal OFFENCES against God and against man," closely allied to " trea- 
son, REBELLION, HERESY, SCHISM, APOSTACY," and " JUSTLY liable tO 
the HIGHEST CIVIL PENALTIES AND ECCLESIASTICAL CENSUKES" ! And 

to sustain these views, she pours upon the heads of the devoted Radicals 
liie very accusations brought against our Non-conforming forefathers, 
•'whose bones were broken with (he iron sceptre of Elizabeth," and 
quotes with appai'ent approbation the anatiiemas of their persecutors who 
speak of those martyrs to holy freedom as having ' perished in the gain- 
saying OF Core.'* 

Yes ! citizens of Rhode-Island ! Such is the language of a religious pe- 
riodical, of iiigh literary rank, published in a neighboring city, sustained by 
some of liie first clergymen in New-York and New-England, and circu- 
lated even in Rhode-Island! Us Jirt'cf influence on our citizens need not 
indeed be feared. But are our spiritual teachers (aught in such schools 1 — 
Well may we fear that the spirit which hung the Quakers and banished 
Roger Williams, is neither dead nor slumbering in our land ! That the 
fingers tiiat would light again the fires of Smithfield, while and delicate 
Ihougli (hey may be, are already learning to become familiarized (o the 
touch of (he torch and of the tinder ! 

Our Danger. 

We need not stop to remark the evident and alarming unity of scnti- 
men( and almost identity of language which runs through these nearly sim- 
uUaneous expressions of aristocratic feeling, from the slaveholding Gov- 
ernor of South Carolina, wiio seem- — not unadvisedly — to have sent forth 
the watch word, to the clerical mouth piece of the Northern Ecclesiastics 
opposed to abolition cfTorl. — "Death xcithout benefit of clergy .'" — "public 
indictable offences^ ! — the "punishment thereof in such manner as will 7nost 
effectually prevent them .'" — " indictable at common law .'" — "power to pass 
such lav)s" .' — " capital offences''.' — "justly liable to the HiciiiEST civil 
penalties and ccclesiaslical censures" ! — If phrases like these have no mean- 
ing; if they do not all mean one and the same thing — and if the current 
circulation of them, without eliciting a general thrill of horror and shriek 
of alarm Ihrougii the comnninit), would not betoken the calm that pre- 
cedes a convulsion — or (he last groans of Freedom before her dissolution, 
then have we weighed words and watched moral causes in vain ! 

Our Remedy. 

But, Citizens of Rhode-Island ! These threats w ill not fall on leaden 
tubes when they fall upon 7/owr ears ! The sons of Roger Williams will take 
and communicate the alarm, and a nalion of freemen, wo trust, will be 
aroused to (heir danger. This is our hope and our prayer ! 

False Security. 

Are you told " there is no danger, because the people arc too intelligent 
and enlighlened to be enslaved 1" — Beware how you lislen to that aristo- 
cratic na((ery !-— It is the lullaby with which Freedom has been sung (o 
sleep, in all past ages ! Most successfully did the courtly sycophants of (he 
ancient Greeks and Romans sing this syren song in (heir ears !—" 77(c 
people, of Rome are too enlightened to become cnsluied" .' This was (he bur- 
den of every oralor ; and for a full century after (he Romans had lost (heir 
liberdes, the same compliment consoled (hem for its absence, or made 
them dream themselves yet in its possession. Yes I With a Nero upon 

♦ I,i(. and Theol, Kevipw, No. S. p. 720. Also. No. 7. 



Dedaraiiuii and Expose. bb 

iheir throne, the Romans were still assured, by their first orators, that 
the Roman people were too enligiitened to be in danger of'losing their frcc- 
doiij ! 

Actual Invasion of Liberty. 

It was an admirable remark of Montesquieu, that ' a nation may lose its 
liberties in a day, and not 'miss them lor years !' Citizens of Rliode-Island! 
Jjook about you ! Are you in t!ie possei^sion of all your liberties, now ?— 
Yonpay for the support of a nalioiial mail ! Can }nu use it 1 — Yes ! If you 
will neither write nor print any thina: contrary to the will of your 6'fc/(//r/?-s / 
You can use it, except for the purjjo^e of disseminating tne first principles 
of liberty .' You can use it, at the discretion of ten thousand unauthorized 
censors of the press I You can use it, except when the laws are suspended 
without the consent of the Representatives of the people! — You can use 
it, except when the express terms on which you ratified the United States 
Constitution are lawlessly trampled underfoot! — 
Insult and Flattery. 

And yet you have the full possession of your liberties ! Tiie x'\ristoc- 
racy tell you so, and undoubtedly you have all the liberty which, in their 
estimation belongs to you ? And moreover, you are said by tiiem to bo 
30 intelligent and so enlightened as to be in no danger of losing your liber- 
ties ! The pit-falls, to be sure, are dug all around you, in every direction, 
and you are treading iheir verge on the glare ice. But then, your Ian- 
thorns are so bright, and your eye-sight is so clear, that tiiere are no pit- 
falls or slopes of ice in existence ! — 'Tis thus, the Aristocracy would have 
you reason I 

Citizens of Rhode-Island ! We, too, have full confidence in your in- 
telligence, and therefore we ask ymi, in the light of tint intelligence to 
look -Ai the dangers which ac'ually surround you ! — dangers vvhich your 
intelligence may teach you to shun, thougii its magic cannot empower you 
to annihilate ! — So long as the facts wiiich constitute those dangers 
CONTINUE TO EXIST, the intelligenfc of an arch-angel could only increase 
your we\l grounded apprehension of them ! And it is not danger, alone ; 
but aggression that simuld alarm you. 

Liberty and Ant i- Slavery Inseparable. 

Fellow-Citizens ! We ask you to join tlie Anti-Slavery effort, as the 
only possible means of maintaining your own freedom ! — Ponder carefully, 
we beseech you, the principles we iiave laid down, the facts we have re- 
corded, the objects we propose, and tiie measures we pursue. Then tell 
us, if you can, how the freedom of ilie Northern people can be luaintain- 
ed, without pleading for the freedom of the people of the South! And 
tell us how freedom of speech and of the press shall be secured to any of 
our citizens, if it is denied to the Abolitionists. 

The Aristocracy would have you consider it a very light affair to forbid 
the holding of the Anti-Slavery meetings, that are found to create so much 
excitement [among the opposers of freedom !] — a trifling matter to pro- 
hibit t!ie circulation of a few Anti-Slavery publications I — Nothing else, 
they tell you, shall be molested ! Nobody except the Abolitionists shall be 
debarred from holding meetings when they please. They pledge their 
honor that nobody else shall be disturbed ! — They will permit you to as- 
semble when and where you jilease, and read what you please, except when 
the Anti-Slavery tracts and lecturers visit you! 

Marvellous condescension ! And how long have they been your super- 
visors 1 — They will permit yoti to enjoy ail the liberty you ask — except 
the liberty of hearing and reading whatlhe Abolitionists say — if you will 
only help them put the Abolitionists down I — Yes ! They will permit you. 
And how long will they permit you 1 Just as long as they please, and no 
longer. They will probably permit you, until it is found that some of 



56 Declaration and Expose. 

your papers and meetings procZuce a/i excitement among tlie Aristocrats ! — 
Then the precedeni will come into use — Meetings and papers must bo 
proliibited wWivU produce an excitement ! 'J'hat is liie rule by which Abo- 
lilionists are to be " put down !" If it produce an cxcitcmcnfio print any- 
thing against t!ie State or National Administrations, then such printing, 
according to the Aristocratic rule, must be suppressed! 

Citizens ol Rhode-Island ! Is tliis the tenure by which you liold your 
liberties'? Many of you can attest that there are many neighborhoods in 
this ^tate where Abolition meetings and papers produce no unpleasant 
excitement ! What is the reason ? Because there are no Aristocrats there ! 
— Tliese i\re the [icrsons who lUdke all the excitement against Abolitionists, 
and then, because the excitement exists, the Abolitionists must be '^ put 
down" ! — Be assured, Fellow-Citizens, the principles ol civil and religious 
freedom have always made " a?i excitement" when published in the hear- 
ing of tyrants. There was " a great excitement'' in Massachusetts, when 
Roger VVilliams proclaimed the true doctrines of liberty there ; the sanje 
lioclrines that Al)oli(ionis(s proclaim now, and to quiet the terrible " ex- 
cilement" he was banisiicd from the Commonwealth 

But the doctrines and demands of despotism create 7io " exciteyncnf 
among Aristocrats, however murderous they may be — and therefore their 
publication is threatened with no proscription ! 

Consider, then, fellow citizens, the [uivileges that will still be vouch- 
safed to you — You will be permitted to read the INIessages of Govern- 
ors Everett and Marcy and McDuffie — you will be permitted to read the 
Theological Reviews that teach " unwavering confidence in the truth and 
divinity' of existing 'institutions' — that 'an evil word spoken against them' 
and 'whatever else tends, in any way to impair their power' is 'justly 
liable to the highest civil penalties and ecclesiastical censures .'" — You will 
be permitted to read the pamphlet of the Messrs. SuUivans. — Yes ! and a 
defence of Church and Slate Union — or an eulogy of Charles I. of Eng- 
land, or of Nicholas of Russia, or of the Roman Caligula, if any one 
chooses to print and circulate them I You will be perndttccl to read the 
whole round of Aristocratic literature, both American and European I — 
You will be permitted to read the writers who deny inalienable human 
rights, and motk at the laws of Jehovah ! — In short, you will be j)ermittcd 
to read every thing except ?/ie duties of man to his brother — every thing 

except THK FOUNDATION OF YOUn OWN INALIENABLE RIGHTS ! Every 

publication except these will be cheerfully permitted to circulate ! These 
must be suppressed, because they produce so much excitement .' 

But some of you, perhaps, are thinknig of a middle ground. You arc 
not quite prepared to become Abolitionists, but you would take a stand in 
favor of free discussion — you revolt at the idea of legislation against free- 
dor.i of speech and of the press. Very well ! So far as our own personal 
interests arc concerned, nay, in the name of universal freedom, we thank 
and commend you lor this. — Freedom of discussion is all that the Cause 
of Freedom asks; and all that the Truth needs. — But let us entreat you 
to use as well as assert the right of free discussion. The right of (rec 
inquiry is of little value, and comes to be little valued, uidess constantly 
exercised. — Freedom of inquiry is the means of ascertaining truth and duly. 
— Substitute not the means for the end. 

And learn, we liesecch you, to defend, as well as to assert, the right of 
free discussion. — You cannot claim it on the ground of your mere physical 
jiower to defend it. Power is the tyrants^ plea, and cannot be the basis of 
freemen^s claim. You cannot claim this right because you are rich, or be- 
cause yo>i arc lohite. You can only claim it because you are men ! You 
cannot claim it on any plea that reaches the human co7iscience, unless it 
be upon a ground which asserts the same claim for all men ! But you be- 



Declaratio7i and Expose. 67 

tome Abolitionisls when you urge sitc/t claims ! And you canno<, without 
a self-contradiction, amounting to a relinquishment ol your own clainis. 
excuse yourselves from a parlicipancy in Anli-Slavcry measures ! fo 
assert your own rights upon a process of moral reasoning- which you will 
not admit to be vilid in the case o( every other man, is to assert it upon 
a ground which you cannot yourself admit to be a solid one. 

To defend hu principle, and on principle, t!ie right of free discussion, i* 
to be an AboliUonist in principle and \\\ practice. And this is all we do- 
sire of you. The contest now raging in this country must inevitably 
drive every advocate of free discussion into the adoption of Anti-Slavery 
principles and the support of Anti-Slavery measures— while every de- 
termined and persevering opposer of those measures will be driven to take 
a stand against tlis liberty of free discussion. There can be no abiding 
middle ground between universal despotism and universal freedom. Thou- 
sands are finding this to be true, and are taking tlieir stand accordingly. 

But immediate emanciiiation, you have been told, would he dangerous. 
Who told you sol Wliere did tlie story originate?— It passes very cur- 
rently among all classes — but who coined it and gave it currency in the 
first place 1— Many of you, fellow citizens, yes ! we rejoice to know, the 
greater part of you, are laboring people. Did the idea that it would be 
dangerous for the laboring \ieop\e to be free, originate among the laboring 
people ] We presume not. 

It is a common notion among the people of Europe that it would be 
dangerous {o%\\-c the common laboring people the rights of citizens- 
dangerous to have a republic ! This is the same idea expressed by Gov. 
McDuffie when he says " the laboring people are a dangerous element of 
the body politic." This is what the slaveholders and their Northern 
apologists mean when they say the emancipation of the slaves would be 
dangerous ! 

Beware, fellow citizens, how you give currency to this doctrine. Tho 
peasantry of Europe have been taught it so long that they believe it to be 
true, and do not tliink of claimnig the rights of freemen I It will be easy 
to reduce the laboring people of America to the same condition, when 
they shall have thoroughly imbibed the same doctrine .'—The Governor of 
South Carolina was correct when he took it for granted that the laboring 
■people of America, " bleached or unbleached"— Northern or Southern- 
would all be deprived of liberty, or all made free. Perhaps his date of 25 
years for the settlement of this question is not an improbable one. The 
decision is making up every day. A far shorter period will deride it, if 
the laboring people of the North do not speedily take their stand —La- 
boring people of Rhode-Island ! What think you 1— Is the liberty of the 
laboring people dangerous 1 

Duties of the Crisis. 

But it is not for your own, sakes alone, Fellow Citizens, that we ask 
your aid in the Anti-Slavery cause. The spirit of frue liberty is not a sel- 
fish spirit. It is noble, generous, magnanimous and Godlike. Freedom is 
the gift of God to all men, but he has suspended {he enjoyment of it on 
conditions : among these the primary and essential one is that they should 
imbibe its heavenly spirit. It can "neither be enjoyed nor maintained in 
the exercise of a selfishness that does not care whether others are free or 
enslaved I To [dead for the rights of others is God's own appointed 
means for the preservation of liberty, and in the very nature of things, it 
is impossible that there should be any other. If liberty is ever secured to 
mankind, it must be secured by the clauii of mankind in general for the 
liberty of c/Z men. He tliat will not be an Abolitionist, w^ithdraws effect- 
ually his own claim for freedom, and commits moral treason against the 
liberties of his country, and of his race ! 



58 Declaration and Expose. 

Rhode-Island has sliared largely, in times past, in the guilt ot bringing 
human beings into slavery. She must partake largely of the vials oi' Di- 
vine wrath, about to be poured out upon our nation, unless she repents and 
brings forth fruit meet for repentance. 

In a former Anti-Slavery struggle — in consequence of the admission ot 
Missouri — nearly sixteen years ago, Rhode -Island acquitted herself more 
nobly than her sister Slates. It was an arduous contest. The excite- 
ment ran high. The South then, as now, threntened to dissolve the Un- 
ion. One of your favorite statesmen disappointedyou and quailed before 
the storm. He was taught by you a lesson that cannot fail to be remem- 
bered. Let it be seen noic, as it was seen then, that " dough-faces'" do 
not utter the sentiments of Rhode- Island ! — Permit us, in the language 
held by the Wiode-Island presses of that i)eriod, >o glance at the state of 
t'aings that then teas, and still is, and summon our little republic once 
more to the contest : 

The iron fiend of Slavery rose, 
Besmeared, and drunk with human blood, 
And swore lo extend her cup of woes, ' 

Far onward, to the western flood ! 

My Country I hcardst thou not the storm, 
That menac'd e'en the Eternal throne ? 
Could'st tliou einbracc that grisly form 
That Hell herself would fain disown .' 

Fair Frkedom saw, with angel smilo, 
Her chosen few stand firm and fast, 
But some, slie knew, might fight awliile. 
And shrink, and basely yield at last. 

Of patriots, prompt at Duty's call, 
How few she found, or dar'd to trust, 
Expediency was all in all, 
Their virtue, gain ; their treasure, dust. 

Christians could compromise with Crime, 
The path King Saul and Judas trod, 
Could balance dollar, cent and dime, 
Against the changeless laws of God. 

With pencil, scale, and chart in hand, 
Her sons she saw, absorb'd in pelf, 
Coolly di\ide their native land 
Between the Demon and herself. 

The tow'ring .'Indcs caught her view, 
She stretch'd lior pinions to depart, 
Her fault'ring tonj^ue delay 'd tli' adioii 
That tremhlufl in lier broken heart. 

VVIion lo ! beneath tlir rasinn slnj 

A dawn of glory seem'd to ope, 

A well-known voice was h(>;ird to cry 

Stay, Freeiiom 1 stay ! " /" ''<"/ w^* hope.'" 

Lo ! in the cast I one cloudless star, 
A little gem, but rich ;uid bright, 
In beauty twinkling from afar, 
Like Mercury on the brow of night ! 

" .Motto ol" Uhode-Island. 



Declaration and Expose. 59 

Lo ! in ihe east! an unstain'd soil ! 
One little spot, where man is free, 
Where outcast Patriarchs, worn with toil, 
Oil Fkeedom ! found a rest for thee ! 

The land whose banners still upborne, 
Protect ' the Oppress'd of every clime,' 
Whose sons have on her altar sworn 
To guard her rights to latest time. 

Lo ! where they come ! her chosen band I 
Unbought by gold — unawed by pow'r — 
Tho' myriads fi\ll, shall they not stand 
The Jibdiels\ of an evil hour ? 

Yes ! Fellow-Citizens ! We trust yo« loill stand ! Divine Providence 
seems to have planted Rhode-Island on this central spot, in the heart of 
New-England, with a purer and earlier code of freedom than her sister 
States, uncursed with a controlling Aristocracy, untrainmelled by the sem- 
blance oi an Hierarchy ; on purpose that in just such a crisis as this, she 
might present herself a living samplar, and if needs be, a living sacri- 
fice : — that on the moral map of the Universe she .might be recognized 
as the Thermopylce of holy Liberty! That in the hour of a Nation's 
peril it might be promptly occupied, and manfully defended by an invinci- 
ble band :— and stand forth the earliest pioneer, and the last hope of free- 
dom ! 



t 



-"the Seraph Abdiel, faithful found. 



■Among the faithless : faithful only he." 

Paradise Lost. 



ADDRESS 

TO THE PROFESSING CHRISTIANS IN RHODE-ISLAND. 



The Rhode-Island Anti-Si.avery Convention respectfully ad- 
dress the professing Christians of all denominations of this State. 

The Redeemer of men has said of his disciples, that they are the 
salt of the earth and the light of the world. Indeed the inference 
is plain, that those wiio partake of ihe benevolent spirit of the Sav- 
iour of the world, will exert a suhitanj moial iiilluence on those 
around them— an influence not only of an enlightening, but of a 
conservative tendency. 

Inasmuch, therefore, as professors of the religion ol icsn^ ouglU 
to possess qualiticalions fitting them for a position at once so impor- 
tant and beneficent to mankind, ue should not be surprised that 
such qualifications in them are taken for granted by the community 
in general ; and the professed church of God looked up to as a 
guide of the blind, a light to them which are in darkness, an instruc- 
tor of the foolish, binding up the brokenhearted, and opening the 
prison doors to them that are bound. 

From members of the Christian church the world expect instruc- 
tion in that which is true in theory, and an example of all which 
is holy in practice ; and this, ilieir obligations to God and their 
neighbor bind them faithfully to give. _ , , ,, ^ . 

We arc not now attempting to show how faithfully professors ol 
reli<Ticn respond to these requisitions, but are only asserling what 
the^moral law enjoins upon ihem, and what the world expect of 
them, in view of llicir high calling and profession. 

Stan(lin<r therefore, as vou do, the professed representatives ol 
Christ in tlic world— the haters of all sm, and especially the sin ol 
oppression— bound by the law of love, the first and great cuminaiul- 
rr'ent to listen to the cry of the poor and needy— we consider it our 
privile<'o and duty to address you in behalt of millions of your own 
countrymen, who are at this moment suflering tiom a system of 
oppression, which robs them of all in this world which makes lite 
de.'irable, and in its tendencies does much, ^e^'^JV^V.Vv v, 7' 
of the blessings of eternity. This si/s(cm isAMLIilLA.\ bJ..J- 

VERY. ^ ... , ,, 

In brin"in-r ibis subject before you, fi.r purposes which we si. a I 

advert to m The sequel, wc would premise, that we do not think 

that the great wickedness and concomitant wretchedness ol binvery 

are frenerallv understood at the North. 

Undoul)tedlv it ii re^aided as not entirely consonant with the 



Address to Christians. 61 

piecepts of the moral law; yet, for want of investigation and reflec- 
lion, the real odiousness of the system has not generally, we tiiink, 
been clearly apprehended. 

We do not design, in this place, to enter into a full exposition ot 
the slave-holder's creed and practice. It is not possibly consistent 
with our circumscribed limits ^ but we would entreat you not to be 
content with vague and superficial views of a subject, which is evi- 
dently an Achan in the camp of our American Israel, and threatens 
the ruin of our whole country. 

The intrinsic wickedness of American Slavery consists in this :— 
It makes gooch and chattels of rational, accountable and immortal 
creatures, and degrades the image of God to a level with fourfootcd 
beasts and creeping things. 

1. Thrown as the slaves are, into the hands of irresponsible mas- 
ters, WiGw physical sufferings are only equalled by the avarice that 
exacts from tliem toil without compensation, and the tyranny that 
drives them to their unrequited labor with the lash. The tender 
mercies of slave-holders and slave-drivers, are cruel. 

2. Slaoery denies to its victims the blessings of education. And can 
a pious mind help condemning, in unqualified terms, a system that 
interdicts the acquisition of knowledge by pains and penalties, and 
lives only in darkness, by holding its victims in heathenish ignorance? 

3. A most revolting feature in tliis system, is, its nullification of 
the marriage covenant. Perhaps the fact is not generally under- 
stood at the North, that no slave can enjoy the legal blessings of 
matrimony ; but is at the entire disposal of his master in this respect, 
as well as all others— husband and wife being separated at the mas- 
ter's pleasure. This is substituting legalized licentiousness and adul- 
tery, for the pure and sacred institution of marriage. 

4. Slavery interdicts the Bible to the slave. And how can those 
who esteem the scriptures as a revelation from God to lost men— 
"' Able to make them wise unto salvation," contemplate a system 
that prevents millions of immortal men from reading this precious 
book, with any other emotions than those of horror? 

Surely we may with boldness and confidence appeal to you, as 
lovers of holiness and haters of oppression, to labor for its extermin- 
ation, its utter annihilation. . . 

A strange apology has sometimes been oflfered for inactivity at the 
North, in respect to this subject, viz. that we have no concern with 
it because it is not immediately in our midst. We say this is a strayigc 
apology: especially for a professed Christian, whose commission is 
to preach the gospel to every creature; who is bound by the law ot 
love to recognize all men as brethren, on whom God has laid the 
solemn injunction to wage an universal and uncompromising war 
with all unholiness, and never to rest " till the righteousness of 
Jerusalem, going forth as the morning, shall chase beyond the con- 
fines of earth, the bewildering darkness of sin, and hll the whole 
world with the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. 

Never, wc assert, could a sentiment more derogatory to the ben- 
evolence of the gospel have been advanced, than that which absolve* 



62 Address to Christians, 

us from any responsibility in respect to slavery, because it does not 
exist incur immediate vicinity. Such a sentiment is condemned by 
the very first prmciples of benevolence, by all the commands of 
God in respect to its exercise, by the commission to preach the gos- 
pel to all, and by the prayers and labors of the people of God to 
extend the blessings of salvation to the whole world. Besides, we 
hold a connexion with this great national sin in a manner that makes 
us partners in its criminality, if we do not wash our hands in inno- 
cency, by abjuring it, and doing ail in our power to effect its over- 
throu'. 

In the adoption of the Federal Constitution we traded in the souls 
and bodies of men — and if a poor slave is so fortunate as to effect 
his escape from the thraldom of slavery, at the South, we are bound, 
if he fall into our hands, to answer the demand of his oppressors 
in again riveting on him the chains of despotism. — And do we still 
say we have no concern uith it.' 

But it is n. political question, we are told, and ministers and Chris- 
tians have nothing to do with politics: therefore they ought not to 
identify themselves with the abolition cause. 

So " the JN'alional Assembly of France, in the commencement of 
the French revolution, appointed a committee to enquire and report 
whether there were and ought to be a God ; and the committee re- 
ported that there could be no liberty on earth, w hile there was 
believed to be a God in heaven; and that there is no God; and that 
death is an eternal sleep. Tlie Assembly adopted the report, abol- 
ished the Sabbath, burnt the Bible, instituted the Decade, and 
ordained the worship of the goddess of liberty in the person of a vile 
woman :" and was not this a political affair ? Just as much so as is 
American Slavery ; and the same reasoning that infers that as 
Christians, we have no right to interfere with slavery, because it is 
a jio/«7/co/(iuestion, would have justified the people of God in France 
in giving silent consent, at least, to the horrible atheistical senti- 
ments which those incarnate demons gravely sanctioned in their 
political capacity, and ordained as the law of the land. It is most 
painful to perceive that the sentiment — that we have nothing to do 
with slavery because it is a political question, has its advocates 
among those who fill the high })laccs of the church, and whose in- 
fluence ought to be exerted in a manner very different from that of 
turning away the weapons of truth from legalized iniquity and abom- 
inations. Wiiat sin, wo would ask, has ever cursed the human race, 
but what, at some period of time, has been legalized, and of course 
jioliticaliy sanctioned.^ The brothels of France may serve as an 
example. And could these masters in Israel send their sage coua- 
sol to the faithful Protestants of France, not to mnko war with 
licontiousnoss, not to insist on the strict observance of tlic seventh 
commandment, not to denounce the judgments of God on those 
who transgress it, because, forsooth, (he transgression is licensed by 
the government? is constitutional, and of course a political subject? 

Tlic same ethics which teach lluit we have nothing to do with 
slavery bccuuac it i.'? a political quu6tion, would condemn ;ill the an- 



Address to Christians. 63 

cient Prophets and Apostles, and indeed Jesus Christ himself, and 
woirid consign the Bible to the same fate decreed it by the atheists 
of France : — tor that wages uncompromising war with all sin, 
whether it have the sanction of legislative enactment, or be against 
the civil code of the land. 

If the objection be valid, Satan and wicked men might easily 
place all manner of sin beyond the province of ministerial denun- 
ciation. — It needs only to be legalized, and the work is done ! Shall 
such a doctrine be sanctioned by those who sit in Moses' seat? It 
is condemned by the conduct of every eminent saint of whom we 
have an account in the word of God. Did they forbear to rebuke 
sin in every form, although it might be legalized ? No ! If this 
doctrine be true, why did not Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego 
submit to the king's edict? Why did not Daniel yickl to the royal 
decree of Darius ? Surely they o«ght to have done so, according to 
the theology of those who teach us that we should not interfere 
with slavery because of its political connexions. 

Another kindred objection is, that it is a subject altogether unfit 
J'or ministerial interference. 

Still, it is acknowledged to be a great sin. And so we are brought 
to the very scriptural conclusion, that ministers of the gospel are 
to leave the denunciation of sin to unholy men and intriguing poli- 
ticians ! If it belong not to ministers to denounce sin, we would 
enquire to whom does it belong? Glaringly absurd as this position 
is, it is nevertheless the creed of multitudes, among whom may be 
found the highest dignitaries of the church. 

So thoroughly has this doctrine been taught, and so implicitly re- 
ceived, that the sentiment extensisely prevails that ministers and 
churches need not expect a revival of religion, if they are in any 
way engaged in the cause of abolition. 

What ! will bowels of mercy and compassion for the poor and op- 
pressed, in a minister and church, inevitably bring upon them the 
blasts and mildews of God's curse, and make them like the moun- 
tains of Gilboa, where there is neither dew nor rain.'' What! has 
it come to this, that the professed representatives of Him who went 
about doing good, teach and are taught, that to plead the cause 
of the Lord's poor will surely incur His displeasure and drive far 
from us His gracious and reviving presence ? Better, far better 
leave the vindication of His character with professed infidels: they 
liave never so degraded the benevolent Son of God. No! so far 
from such a course depriving a church or an individual of the 
gracious influences of God's Spirit, the whole tenor of the Bible gives 
the most positive assurance, that the neglect of such duties will be 
attended with the very curse and consequences deprecated by the 
objector. ''Is not this the fast that I have chosen.'' to loose the 
bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the 
oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke ? — Then shall ihy 
light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall spring forth 
speedily ; and thy righteousness shall go before thee : the glory of 
the Lord shall be thy rear ward. Then shalt thou call and the 



64 Address to C/tristians. 

Lord shall answer ; thon slialt cry and he shall say, here I am. — 
If thou take a'.vay from the inidst of thee the yoke," &c. Isa. Iviii 
chapter. 

Was there ever a class of people that more completely answered 
to the description given by our Saviour of the man, who, going from 
Jerusalem to Jericho, fell among thieves, than do the slaves.' And 
yet to act the part of the good Samaritan towards them, will, says 
the objector, bring down u|)on us the curse of God ! while on the 
other hand, the hard beaten path of the Priest and Levite is the 
high road to his especial favor ! 

We protest against such misrepresentations of the moral govern- 
ment of God. Nothing can be better adapted to bring our holy re- 
ligion into contempt, and flood tlie nation with a desolating tide of 
infidelity and atheism. Furthermore, we think the God of the oppres- 
sed has lately given a clear demonstration to the people of this 
vicinity that abolition principles in a church and minister, will not 
hinder a revival of religion. We say this not in a spirit of boasting, 
but to vindicate the character of God and the genius of our holy 
religion from such misrepresentations. 

But many are ready to enquire '' what they can do in the cause of 
abolition ?" Averring at the same time, that " they are willing to 
do all in their power for the extermination of slavery, but they dis- 
cover no opportunity for them to work in this cause. All that is 
done must l)e done at the South." We answer, God's infallible 
word gives the necessary instruction, — "Remember them that are 
in bonds as bound with them.''^ '' As ye would that men should do 
unto you, do ye even so unto themP'' 

Were you, fellow Christians, in the same circumstances of two and 
a half millions of your colored bretliren at the South, — robbed of 
your liberties — doomed to unrequited labor, and goaded to toil be- 
yond the native energies of your physical powers by the lash of 
merciless drivers — shut out from the acquisition of knowledge, even 
from a knowledge of the word of God — prohibited rcliirious privi- 
leges, and thrust by force into the wav to hell, — robbed of your wives 
and husbands, your parents and childicn — driven to the slave 
mart, herded witli brutes, and inventoried into other merchandize, 
and then sold under the hammer of the auctioneer (o the highest 
bidder — then hurried far away from wife, children and friends, and 
plunged into that abyss where despair lays its iron grasp on hope's 
fluttering pulse, bidding it beat no more forever ; we say, were you 
in these circumstances, what would you think if you were told that 
there were hundreds of thousands of |)rofessed Christians within a 
few hundreds of miles of you, who thought not enough of your 
wretchedness — of your nnmingled woe, to ever heartily and sincere- 
ly pray for you? Yea, what would you thiidi if the great majority 
of those ])rofessing Christians could hardly endure to have your 
CRse mrntinncd in public prayers — that in one of the most populous 
and refined cities in the land, and professedly one of the most relig- 
ious in the world, not a single house, built lor the worship of God, 
roiild be obtained in which to hold a prayer meeting, to supplicate 



Address to Christians. iio 

tile throno of grace in your behalf — and that the candidates Ibr the 
holy ministry ia the largest theological seminary in America, were 
taught not to pray for you publicly and aloud ! Yet this is but a 
i'aint picture of the delinquency of professing Christians generally, 
m respect to the duty of prai/cr for the poor injured slave. In piuuf 
of the utter forgetfulness by them in their religious services, of this 
class of God's poor, we ofler tJie fact that in the commencement «)(' 
the Anti-Slavery Lectures, the Iriends of the cause searched in viiiu 
every collection of Psalms and Hymns extant, for an appro()riaU' 
hymn to be sung on such occasions ! There were hymns adapted 
to the condition of all other people, nations and languages under 
heaven, " From Greenland's icy mountains, to India's coral strand," 
but alas ! the two and a half millions in our country, held in hea- 
thenish ignorance, and worse than heathenish bondage, were passed 
over in silence ! Even the beast of the field and the inanimate cre- 
ation are called upon to praise God ; but as for these millions, bear- 
ing the image of Jehovali — with undying spirits destined to meet the 
retributions of eternity, they a[o)ie are excluded the piivilege of ac- 
knowledging their Creator : as if a conspiracy were entered into to 
make them atheists, whether they would or no ! And as it is in 
praising, so m jjrai/ing. The whole world is prayed for in particu- 
lar sections, excepting the slaves I And now. Fellow Christians, do 
you ask what you can do for the slaves? We iinswev, pi-ay for them — 
forget them no longer. Can you forget them if you have a heart to 
feel for a brother in distress 1 for spirits in prison — for souls in 
jeopardy — for millions writhing in chains ? 

Their wailings are wafted on the wings of the south wind, and 
fall on your ears while in your closets — in the prayer meeting — in 
the great congregation, saying, in a voice almost choked with des- 
jtair, ''Pray for us, for we are poor and needy! Pray for us, for wo 
are oppressed and in chains ! Pray for us, for we are robbed of 
our husbands and wives, our parents and children ! Pray for us, for 
we are in darkness and no man will give us the light of God's word, 
that we may see the way of holiness and walk therein to heaven ! 
Pray for us, for our souls are in jeo|)ardy ! Oh pray for us, for we 
are sinking to hell !" Christians of Rhode-Island, will you still turn 
a deaf ear to their agonizing cries? God forbid! 

And moreover, every minister of the gospel, especially, should 
preach on this subject, that his people may ho well informed of its 
moral loaths )meness and its unparalleled cruelties, and admonished 
of their duty respecting it. And churches and ecclesiastical bodies 
should pass resolutions condemning slavery and denouncing it as a 
sin, and cause such resolutions to be published to the world. But 
still, if we regard iniquity in our hearts, the Lord will not hear our 
prayers, nor give efficiencv to our reproofs. 

Every thing sacred calls on the non-slave-holding churches of the 
whole country, to labor in the spirit of the gospel with slave-hold- 
ing churches and members, and if they will not be persuaded to 
abandon the enslavement of God's image, to withdraw from them 
she hand of fellowship. This wc aver, and appeal to the uiuliori- 
9 



oG Address to Christians. 

[y of God's word, in juslitication of the position. While high 
heaven lays us under the solemn injunction to have no fellowsliip 
with the unfruitful works of darkness, how can we hold communion 
with those, a part of whose work it is to roh immortal minds of the 
light of God's word, and who maintain a system that nullifies the 
moral decalogue ? 

We repeat it ; let the whole Christian community at the North, 
(after the scriptural preparatory steps have been taken,) practically 
tell slave-holders that they cannot fellowship them while in the com- 
mission of this great sin, (however amiable they may be in other 
respects,) and we venture to predict, (hat this temple of abomina- 
tion will soon tumble from its base and he dashed in ruins. But we 
are told that they are Christians. And we ask in return, if we are 
to fellowship even Christians in the transgression of the plain com- 
mands of God? God forbid! But we should use this means of 
withdrawing fellowship from them, to bring them to repentance, oth- 
er scrii)tural means havinjr proved ineirectual. And now, in answer 
to the enquiry of thousands of professing Christitins, "what they can 
do in tills cause?" We say, that Christians ?7t the non-slave-holding 
States can, under God, speedily abolish slavery. 

And let Rhode-Island Christians remember that they are a part 
of this responsible body. Preachers of the gospel ! Let your ))ul- 
pits utter holy rebukes against this monster sin. Lead on by word 
and example, tlie sacramental host, (o this moral conflict. It is your 
appropriate duty. You are the watchmen on the walls. Sound the 
alarm ! Fellow-Christians, by your prayers, you can move the 
hand of HIM that moves (he world ! By withdrawing fellowship 
from slave-holding professors ; by bearing public and private testi- 
mony against slavery, you will throw the weight of your influence 
int(t the scale of a purified public sentiment, which will demand its 
extinction : which will sound like the thunders of Sinai in the ears of 
all those who trade in the souls of men : which will kindle a fire of 
Chrislian abhorrence (hat shall burn hotter and hotter, until Ameri- 
can Slavery be utterly consumed, and the ashes thereof scattered to 
the winds ! 

The.«e things northern Christians can do ; and reverently in the 
nanie of God, huinnnely in the name of the enslaved — and boldly in 
the name of liberty, we call on them to do it without delay. 

You look for the days of millennial purity, holiness and glory, to 
be near at hand. But do you expect that American Slavery will 
exist when the knowledge of God shall cover the earth as the waters 
do the sea, and Indincss be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and 
on (he posts in the Lord's hotise ? In that day of universal peace, 
righteousness and benevol<;iice, will the groans of (he lacerated 
Nlave be heard responding to the driver's whip, and the fiehls and 
plain.«, (!:<■ hills :iihI dales of th(! Soudi, be sprinkled with the blood 
and waicred with (he tears of inilliiuis of God's poor, grt)und to 
powdiM- under the millstone of oppression ? In the day when all shall 
know (he Lord fronid'.e greatest tii the least, shall millions be found 
ill this land, who are not permiKed to learn (o read the Bible? In (he 



Address io Christians. 67 

tiay when all God's commandments shall be recoonized and obeyed 
by all, will the marriage covenant be annulled at the bidding of cov- 
etousness, cruelty and lust; and the image of God, yea Jesuls Christ 
himself, in the person of his children, be bartered for vile dust at the 
bidding of avarice? 

We say, Christians of Rhode-Island, will these thinjgs stay on 
earth and tarnish the glory of the millennial Sabbath? Your souls 
recoil at the thought ! Well, then, we say, you are bound to use 
the same means for the removal of slavery, that you are for the re- 
moval of any other, and every other obstruction to the usherino- in 
of that day. ^ 

Will you pray for India and not for America ?— A\'ill you take 
unwearied pains to teach the heathen the word of God in distant 
lands, and be content to have millions at our own doors prohibited 
this privilege?— Will you weep rivers of tears over the idolatry and 
wretchedness of Africa, millions in Africa's land, and yet suffer 
millions of her descendants— native born Americans, too, to be 
bruised and mangled in the streets of our own country, without 
sparing them a tear of sympathy ? Will you pray and labor for the 
conversion, the social, intellectual, and religious elevation, of all the 
nations of the earth, excepting our own ? Finally, will you cherish 
a sin, which unless speedily repented of and forsaken, threatens ruin 
to our country by drawing down upon it the heavy jud"-ments of AI 
mighty God ? We hope better things of you, and things that ac- 
company salvation. 



REPORT ON THE COPSSTITUTION. 



Tho Committee appointed to inquire concerning the constitutional 
right of the citizens of the United States, to speak, write and pub- 
lish their sentiments and opinions on the subject of slavery, and 
concerning the constitutional power of Congress, to abolish slavery 
in places within their exclusive jurisdiction — respectfully report : — 

That as a preliminary step to their inquiries, they have thought 
proper to examine the provisions contained in the Constitutions of the 
United States, and of tlin Stales individually, by which, the rights 
to Ireedom of speecii, and freedom of the press are recognized and 
secured. 

In the Constitution of the United States, we find the following 
provision: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establish- 
ment of religion, nr prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridg- 
ing the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people 
peaceably to assemble, and to petition Government for a redress of 
grievances." 

By the Cf)nstitution of Maine; "Every citizen may freely speak, 
write and publish his sentiments on any subject, being responsible 
for the abuse of this liberty, and no laws shall be passed regulating 
or restraining the freedom of the press." 

By the Constitutions of New-Hampshire and Massachusetts it is 
declared — " That the liberty of the press is essential to the security 
oft7eedom, and ought to be inviolably preserved, and never re- 
strained; and that the people have a right, in an orderly and peace- 
able manner, to assemble and consult upon their common good.'*'' 

In Vermont, New- York and Alabama, it is provided, — "That the 
people have a right to freedom of speech, and the right to assemble 
together and consult for their common cfood." 

In Connecticut, — '' No law shall ever be passed, to curtail or re- 
strain the liberty of s|)eech or of the press." 

in Pennsylvania, Delaware, KentuckVi Tennessee, Tjouisiana, Il- 
linois and ^Missouri, it is said, — '' That the free connnunication of 
thoughts and opinions, is one of the invaluable rights of man, and 
every citizen may freely speak, write and print on any subject, being 
responsible for the abuse of that liberty." 

In Virginia and North-Carolina, — "The freedom of the press is 
one of the great bulwarks of liberty." 

In Maryland and South-Carolina, — " Th;it the lihcrtv of the 
press shall forever i)e inviolably j)rcserved.'' 

In (ieorgia—'' Freedom o| the prcsf: thall remain inviolate.' 



Report on the Constiiution. B9 

in Ohio and Indiana-" Everv citizen aiay IVeclv spoak writ. 
and print on any subject, as bethinks proper, be.ng hablo tnr ti>e 
abuse of that liberty." r i\t- • • • „„; 

The framers of the Constitution of the State of Mississippi, evi- 
dently feeling a more than ordinary apprehension of the danger to 
which their personal rights might be exposed, (an apprehension 
which recent events have fully justified) have guarded these rights 
with more than ordinary precaution. In their bd o rights espec.a - 
ly declared to be rights beyond the control of all legislative inter- 
firenccthey have provided-" That no person shall be molested . 
for his opinions on any subject whatever. Every citizen may freely 
speak, write and publish his sentiments on all sunjects, being re- 
sponsible for the abuse of that liberty -no law shall ever be passed 
to curtail or restrain the liberty of speech or of the press,-no per- 
son shall be accused, arrested or detained, except in cases ascer- 
tained by law, and accordinir to the forms which the same has pre- 
scribed. Theri-htof trial by jury shall remain inviolate. 1 hat 
the citizens have a right in a peaceable manner to assemble togeth- 
er for their common good; and to apply to those invested with the 
powers of Government for redress of grievances or other proper pur- 
poses, by petition, address or remonstrance." 

By the preceding references, we f\nd, that the people of the Unit- 
ed States and of each individual State, possessed of a written Consti- 
tution, have with but one exception, (the state of New-Jersey,) when 
acting in their highest capacity in Convention assembled laying the 
foundations of social order, solemnly declared, that the right o 
speaking, writing, publishing and propagating our sentiments and 
opinions, IS one of those inherent and invaluable rights that are nev- 
er to be subjected to legislative control. If after all these explicit 
declarations, the right itself may be questioned, then eveiy right and 
every security we value as freemen, may also be questioned ; for 
we have no ri^ht or immunity secured by stronger constitutional 
<r„aranties than those by which we have endeavored to secure 
freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right of assem- 
bling and petitioning for redress of grievances. It is eviden by 
the Theory of our republican institutions, as well as by the written 
provisions of our National and State Constitutions, that the three 
great means of exercising the powers of reason and persuasion, to 
wif— the ric-ht of consultation in peaceable assemblies of the peo- 
ple ; liberty'of speech and freedom of the press, are, in all religious 
and political concernments, placed beyond the reach of ah legisla- 
tive interference. No limit IS fixed to the right of discussioii. We 
have no law, custom, principle, institution, compact or Consti- 
tution, placed above examination or repeal. Acknowledging nei- 
ther the divine right of Kings or Constitutions, and denying hat 
one generation of men have by nature any authority to contract or 
leai.late irreversibly for that which is to follow, we hold that laws 
are laws, institutions are institutions, and constitutions are consti- 
tutions so long as the people assent to them, and no longer. V\ c 
have nothing in our social system invested with Divinity, livery 



^^ Report on the Constitution, 

thing i,i .subjected to the power of scrutiny and analysis. When the 
Constitutions ot the United and individual States declared, " That 
no law should he passed abridiring the freedom of speech or ot the 
press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and consult 
lor tlicu- common good," they virtuallv subjected every thin- to in- 
vestigation, every thing to discussion, and every thing to chancre 
by this tenure we hold all that is valuable in our social institutions. 
Ihese institutions wo may not overturn with brute force, but bv the 
express provisions of our written Constitutions, we are authoVized 
by the unrestrained use of our tongues, our pens and our presses, 
to assail, criticise, condemn, and if possible to overtiirn, any law 
custom, or institution whatever; nor can we in the use of the.e le- 
gitimate weapons be met by any different weapons. Whatever 
tongue, pen and press attack, mu.«t fall if tongue, pen and press are 
inadequate to its defence. In the words of our law, " It is time 
enough for the purposes of civil Government for its officers to inter- 
fere when principles break out into overt acts against peace and 
goodor.ler-that truth is great and will prevail, if left to herself, 
and that she has nothing to fear in conflict with error, if left tn the 
free use of her natural weapons, free argument and debate." 

Jf the foregoing exposition of our constitutional rights is correct 
It follows that unles.s some exception can be found in favor of the 
institution of slavery, that institution, like all our other institutions is 
a proper subject for discu.ssion . It may be examined, exposed, and 
approved or condemned, as reason may determine— and if on trial it 
shall appear to any individual or body of men, to be an unjust, im- 
politic or dangerous institution, there is no reason under the .^eneral 
principles of our jiolitical ..ystem, why any individual or body of 
men may not, m the use of their tonsfues, their pens, and their pres- 
ses use theirutmost efforts to effect its overthrow; unless, as was 
said before, slavery is exempted from the operation of general rules 
by particular exception. The opponents of all interference with 
s avery in the way of discussion, claim this exception. They 
claim the exception, not by denying the truth of the foretvoing 
principles, nor by referring to any provisions in the NationafCon- 
st.tution, but by resorting to the allegation of a supposed national 
compact made between the difierent fcftates, when they first entered 
into a iSational Confederacy, and confirmed, by the subsequent 
adoption of our present General Constitution. " We abide by our 
compact, IS the motto of the Pro-slavery party at the North and 
you are violating your fathers' compact," 'is the charge made 
against us in the South. 

IJcfore proceeding to the examination of this supposed compact, it 
may bo well to observe that by grounding their exception from the 
general law of discussion, on an implied compact made anterior to 
the adoption of the Constitution, our opponents virtuallv give up all 
their consiitulional objections to the discu.ssion of the subject of sla- 
very. ( )iir constitutional ngiit to discuss this question, is, f hercforo, 
admitted by our opponents themselves, in its fullest extent. 

We tlien come to this compact. And in the first place your com- 



Report on the Coiutdution. 71 

mittee cheerfully declare, that their fathers' principles, their fatheis" 
examples and tiieir fathers' compacts, are things sacred in their 
eyes. If we do not regard then) as binding autliority in all tilings, 
we yet hold them in great reverence. In this respect tiie Abolition- 
ists may safely challenge a comparison with tlieir opponents. None 
are more strongly attached to the old landmarks of Freedom than 
the Abolitionists, and by none will these landmarks be more tena- 
ciously defended. This cliarge then of violating ancient compacts, 
deserves our serious attention. What is this compact .' By the 
admission of our adversaries themselves, this compact, whatever it 
may be, is a compact built entirely on implication. It has never 
been recorded. Its terms have never been given in definite lan- 
guage, or reduced to writing. On this very important point, for the 
terms of this compact, we are left entirely to inference — as near a.** 
can be gathered from the language of our opponents, tlie supposed 
compact is an agreement made by the founders of our present po- 
litical system — that slavery as it now exists, was to be a perpetual 
institution, and one, whose excellency is never to be questioned or 
doubted by any one in speech, writing, or printed publication. 

In the absence of all record, the formation of such an agreement 
can at the present day be shown only by reference to the acts of the 
men who lived at the time of its supposed formation ; — if in the 
minds of these men there had been such an understanding, by 
their acts it can be shown. The fact that the union was formed 
while slavery existed, is no proof of such an agreement ; something 
further is required. Was this agreement made when the States 
first confederated? We answer, no. The first Congress which was 
held in 1774, in one of their first acts resolved, " That we will nei- 
ther import nor purchase any slave imported after the first day of 
December next, (1774,) after which time we will wholly discontinue 
the slave trade, and will neither be concerned in it ourselves, nor 
will we hire our vessels, nor sell our commodities or manufactures 
to those who are concerned in it." 

And afterwards when forming the Articles of Confederation they 
refused to insert any provision for protecting the power of masters 
over their slaves, or authorizing the master to follow a runaway 
slave into another State. In the debates on the subject of confede- 
ration, it was said " that the importation of slaves ought to be sub- 
jected to every discouragement"' — " that the slaves ought to be dis- 
missed, that freemen might take their places." 

The institution of slavery was condemned by all, and defended 
by none — and an ordinance was passed under this confederacy, 
abolishing immediately and entirely all slavery in all the Territories 
of the United States not included within the limits of the confederat- 
ed States, to wit, all north of the Ohio river. As soon as the Col- 
onies had thrown off the British yoke, the Colonial Assemblies 
began tlieir efforts to remove by legislation, this odious institution. 
In the Northern Slates were passed acts of emancipation. In the 
Southern States acts authorizing the manumission of slaves. And 
had these efforts been followed as they were commenced, the in- 



72 Report on the Constitution. 

sitution of slavery would lon<r since liuve ceased in our laud. It is 
certain, theu, that uo compact like the otu: iu ([ucstion, was made 
uuder the old confederiicy. Was it made at the lurmalion ol" our 
present National Constitution ? If such was the fact, it must appear 
either in the provisions of that instrument itself, or in the debates 
attending its formation and ratification, or in the acts and wiitings 
of the men who lormed and ratified it. As to ihe Constitution itself,iio 
mention is made of slavery or slaves in a sin<rle instance; and in tlie 
jjrovisions which evidently refer particularly to that class of men who 
are held as slaves, great caution is used in the use of language. There 
is a manifest eflort in the construction of sentences, to avoid every 
appearance of sanctioning the institution of slavery. It refuses to 
recognize slaves as being in any sense property. They are referred 
t(» as " persons," in every instance, and the word " per^ons'' is. 
adhered to, even when other woids would have been better adapted 
to their meaning: and v/e are informed by the wr'itin;;s of the men, 
who assisted in the national Convention, that these r.\pre.>^sions were 
not adopted accidentally, but designedly, and lor the exjiress pur- 
pose of preventing not merely an express, but even a constructive 
recognition of the institution of slavery. We have but slight sketches 
of the debates in this Convention; but slight as they are, they con- 
firm our inferences drawn from the Constitution. The slavehold- 
ing States themselves insisted that the word '• slaves'' should not 
be used in the Constitution. They voted that the word " slaves" 
should be changed to tlie word " persons." When the clause au- 
thorizing Congress to prohibit the importation of certain persons, 
(tneaning Africans) after the year ISOS, was under debate, it was 
strongly objected to, and by a letter written soon after by a member 
of the Convention to bis conslitnenls (J\Jr. jMartin of Maryland,) 
we learn that tht! great argument against it was its insufficiency lo 
ensure the abolition of slavery ; and he endeavors to prove by a 
labored argument, that the provision in question would not efl'ect 
the extinction of slavery. Now if it was agreed, if it was under- 
stood by the members of the Convention, as a part of their national 
compromise, that slavery was to remain a ])erpelual institution, 
would such an argument ever have been used in the Convention .' 
When the members of the Convention op])osed this clause, on the 
ground that it would not eft'ect the abolition of slavery, the fair in- 
ference is, that they who defended the clause, defended it on the 
ground that it would cft'ect such abolition. This single debate alone, 
by developing the views of the Convention on the subject of slavery, 
shews conclusively, that the idea ol' a compact or understanding 
that slavery was to be per|)etual, never entered their minds. If it 
was their intention to lorni such a compact, and if slavery is in- 
deed an invaluable institution, and one, as has been recently assert- 
ed, that ' lies at the foundation of our rc|niblican institutions,' surely 
nothing would have been easier, and nothing more proi)er, than to 
have inserted in the Constitution, some clause like the following, 
VIZ. " \N licreas bv the unsearchable dispensations ol Divine I'rovi- 
dtMice, slavcrv is the ba?is ol all republican institutions, it is dcelav- 



Report on the Constitution. 73 

ed, tliat slavery as il now exists in these flnited States, is, and for- 
ever shall be held and considered as an iminulable institution. If 
snch was the understanding, and if the doctrines recent!/ advanced 
by men in high station, are correct, the omission of some clause like 
the one above mentioned is inexcusable. As nothing- can be shewn 
111 the Constitution itself, or in the debates of the Convention that 
formed it, or in the debates of the Conventions which ratified it, im- 
plying the existence of any compact like the one now set up, we 
proceed in the next place t(» inquire, if any thing can be inferred 
countenancing the supposition of sucii an agreement or understand- 
ing, from the acts of the men by whom such agreement must have 
been made, if made at all. 

Soon after the adoption of the present national Union, Abolition 
Societies were formed in the several States. Their avowed object 
was the total extinction of slavery in the United States. The lead- 
ers in those Societies were the same men whose hands had just laid 
the foundations of our nation?! institutions. Their piiiicipies coin- 
cided entirely with the principles adopted by the Abolitionists of the 
present day. They denounced slavery as an unjust and wicked sys- 
tem — one that all good men should endeavor to overturn. Their 
acts agreed with their |)rinciples. They wrote tracts against slavery 
—they petitioned Congress to use all constitutional means for its 
final extinction. On these petitions Congress, in the first session 
held under the present Constitution, acted, and a series of resolu- 
tions were adopted, in which tlie constitutional powers of Congress, 
in relation to slavery, were accurately defined. The doctrines con- 
tained in these resolutions are the doctrines of the Abolitionists of 
the present day, namely— That until the year 1808, the importation 
of slaves could not be prohibited by Congress— That the States 
possess individually the sole power to emancipate their slaves— 
That Congress possess the authority to regulate the slave trade, 
and the authority to prohibit it even prior to 1808, in regard to the 
supply of foreign nations ;" and during the discussion oi' these rcso- 
Jutions, the right and the duty of Congress to use all means for the 
abolition of slavery, not expressly prohibited by the Constitution 
was strongly urged by all the leading members of Congress, (par- 
icularly by Messrs. Madison and Gerry) who had taken part i.i the 
formation o( the Constitution. 

Now if the institution of slavery was by mutual comnromi.<^e to 
reniain inviolate and immovable, would these illustrious men, such 
as Jay tranklin, Madison and Gerry, have conducted in this man- 
ner ? Oould a compact like the one in question have been formed 
and not have been known to .John Jav? Had such been the under- 
standing of the compromise between the different States, is it ijos. 
sible that the sagacious Franklin, who assisted in making the com- 
promise, should never have understood it } Yet Jay and Franklin 
in their day, were as undoubted Abolitionists, and as activd in the 
formation of Abolition Societies, as any that can be f.,und in modern 
ames ; and it was not owing to anv lack of zeal on their p;ut rl,at 



74 Report on the Comtitntion. 

their l;vl)ois were not (Mjiially as oilicaciou? as our owrj in awakening 
public aUenlion to lliis monienloiis subject. 

From these facts, and Troni all the exuniiuation that your commit- 
tee have hail it tu their power to make, they have no iiesitatioii in 
proaounciii'T the supposed compact by wliich tlie citizens ot the U. 
States are ])rechuied from discussing the subject of slavery, to be a 
groundless fiction, and one too, of no ordinary malignity. It is 
nothing' less than an utrocious libel on the characters of the illustri- 
ous dead, invented to deprive the living of their dearest and most 
invaluable privileges. It represents the founders of onr republican 
empire, but recently engaged in a most severe conflict for the pie- 
scrvatioii of i hose rights winch they claimed under the laws of God 
and n;auie, in common with all mankind, in assuming their rank 
amotif nations: forming a Government for a free people, according 
to the^principles of freedom, and (or the preservation of those prin- 
ciples, as solemnly contracting, that an institution of slavery, ot the 
most odious and detestable character imaginable, should forever re- 
main sacred and inviolable. For the honor of those great and good 
,„en — for the honor of human nature itself— we are happy in believ- 
ing, that a charge, involving such gross inconsistency, is utterly 
groundless. On the contrary, if there is any reliance to be placed 
on past history, it is certain that at the commencement of our pres- 
ent political system there was a general belief and expectation tliat 
African Slavery in these United States would he abolished, and that 
speedilv. 

lu concluding their inquiries on this l)ranch of the subject, sub- 
milted to their coiisiderntiou, your committee feel warranted in say- 
ing, that there is nothing in" our national constitution, or m our 
iialinnal hist(.ry, by which slavery is exempte<l from that unrestrain- 
ed discussion "to whicli every other institution is ciaistitutionally 
subjected. 

The remaining topic, for our investigation, concerns the powers 
of Congress in regard to th.e abolition of slavery in places sul)jeeted 
to its exclusive jurisdiction. Their power in this matter is given 
by the following worths « f the Constitution : " Congrc«is shall have 
n(»wer to exercise exchisivc legislation in all cases whatsoever over 
sucli district (not exceedinir ten miles square) as may by cession of 
particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the scat 
of Government of the United Slates, and to exercise like authority 
over all places i)urcliased by the consent (d" the Legislature of the 
State, in wliieh the same sliall be. lor the erection of forts, maga- 
zines, arsenals, dock-vards and other needful buildinjis." 

The State of .Maryland, in ceding to the I'liited States that pait 
of their territoiv that was scdecled lor the s<'a1 of Government, dc- 
<:lare that the territory in qn<'stion is " to be foiever ceded and re- 
jinqnished lolhe Congress and (Government of the United Slates, in 
full and ;il)solute right ami exelusivt! jurisdiction, as well of soil as 
of persons residing, or to rc-ide thereon, pursuant to the tenor and 
vficct »»f the eighth section of tin; tiist aiticle of the Constitution of 
GoverniiKMit ohlm United Slates, provided that nothing herein con- 



Report on the Comiituiion. 



70 



taiiied siiall he so construed to vest in the United States any right 
of i)roperty in the soil, ns to affect the rights of indivichials therein, 
otlierwise than tlie same shall or may be transferred by such indi- 
viduals to the United States." 

The State of Virginia, in their act of cession, say of the ceded 
territory : " The same is forever ceded and relinquished to the Con- 
gress and Government of the United States, in full and absolute 
right and exclusive jurisdiction, as well of soil, as ol persons resid- 
ing, or to reside thereon." 

""And by the cessions of both States it is i)rovided, that all laws, 
respecting persons and property then existing in said Stntes, sliould 
continue m force in said ceded territories, until Congress should 
provide other laws for their government. 

On these laws your committee deem all comment to be unneces- 
sary. They speak for themselves, and we leave them to everyone's 
discernment. 

The only argument used to deny the power of Congress to eman- 
cipate slaves under these general provisions is that drawn from the 
constitutional provision preventing Congress from taking private 
property for public use witiiout compensation. This, however, evi- 
dently refers to the taking of property from i)rivate persons, and 
holding the same as property, for the use of Government. The 
abolition of slavery does no such thing. By such an act the public 
receive nothing. The act of emancipation is merely doing an act 
of justice between two individuals; between the master and the 
slave; and an act that falls far short of complete justice, too, in all 
cases'wheie no compensation is made by the master to the slave for 
past services. Laws are continually made, regulating the distiibu- 
tion of estates, the exercise of trades, the admission to professions and 
the regulation of business : all of which, in a greater or less degree, 
affect Uie rights and properties of individuals. Yet in no case do 
the persons^thus affected ever claim compensation for iheir conse- 
quential losses, unless liie ])ublic are as a body public, put in pos- 
session of what is thus taken. 

And were every State in the Union to emancipate every child 
born after any future period, tiie act itself would be no greater in- 
vasion of private rights, than the act which abolished the old law of 
entailments. 

Your Committee in conclusion, would say a ^ew words in regard 
to the particular situation of the citizens of Rhode-Island, as entitled 
to the rights we have endeavored in the former pan of our report to 
defend. 

In the State of Ilhode-Islaiid we have no written Constitution, 
by which the rights of men ;is freemen are particularly defined. 
The first settlers'of this Stuie clearly understood and fully developed 
the great principles of civil and religious freedom, and these princi- 
ples^'have been so deeply impressed on the minds of their descend- 
ants, that no memorial or record other than that of temporary 
legi.Jlation has hitherto been deemed necessary for their preserva- 
tio'i. The citizens of Rhodc-IsUind, as such, need no labored ar- 



76 Report on the Cojistitution. 

gument or written authority, to convince them of their rij^ht to an 
unrestrained freedom, in the discussion of any f^ubject whatever. 
The remembrance of their ancestors, who founded this Slate, for 
the express jjurpose of securing and enjoying this right, is suf- 
ficient for them. 

The e.xent to which the citizens of thi.s Slate are entitled to exer- 
cise this right, as members of the Union, has fortunately been laid 
Wown in explicit terms and placed on public record. 

In ratifying the Constitution of the United States the People 
of Rhode-Island in Convention assembled, solemnly declared that 
they entered the National Union on the express condition, that cer- 
tain enumerated rights should never be abridged or violated, in 
which enumeration, is included the right to freedom of speech and of 
writing and publishing their sentiments ] freedom of the press and 
the right of j)eaceably assembling and consulting for their common 
good. These are the rights which the people of this State have 
reserved to themselves, and we must say that i( there is any regard to 
be had to the most solemn compact ever made between Rhode 
Island and her sister Republics, we as citizens of this State and 
of the nation, have an unquestionable right, peaceably to meet, 
freely to speak and freely to write and publish our sentiments and 
opinions on all subjects. 

Had these rights been called in question by citizens of other 
States in their private capacity, no regard would have been excited, 
nor would the communication of legislative opinions, from other 
States have been objected to. But when we find that the legislatures 
of other States have made an express request on the legislature of 
this State, for the enactment of laws in violation of these sacred 
privileges: when we hear it declared to be a part of their constitution- 
al duty to pass such acts, and that a refusal so to do, may bejustly held 
ns a violation of the national compact, we feel compelled to declare, 
that a just sense of what is due to ourselves, to the memory of our 
fathers and the welfare of posterity, require that every such demand 
ks met with a prompt, decisive and unqualified denial. 



APPENDIX. 



The following letters were addressed to, and all excepting the 
last received by, the Convention, during its session. 

To the President of the Aiiti- Slavery Convention, to he held at Providence, Feb. 2. 

Brooklyn, Ct. Jan. 30, 183G. 
.My Dear Sir: 

Circumstances prevent my attending your State Convention, but they allow 
me to send a letter as a substitute for my bodily presence. 

As I think of your meeting, my heart heaves within me tumultuously: every 
emotion is a wave, and every thought a breeze. My paper must be tlie bark to 
waft a freiglit of good-will to your body. May it add something to the almost 
empty treasury of humanity — for great expenditures are yet to be made in her 
sacred cause ! 

What shall I say respecting the call of your Convention ? It burst forth in 
a mingled peal of athousand voices,* — suddenly, — une.ipectedly, — like a clarion 
in the clear, still noon of night. It has gone over the Alleghany mountains, 
and is swiftly traveling along the Mississippi, nor will its echoes cease till they 
have ' rung from side to side' of our extended republic. There has been nosiii-^ 
gle burst like it in any other cause. Let Rhode-Island have the palm — for, of 
all her competitors, she is now foremost in the race of freedom. When the em- 
pire State, New- York, sent forth her call for an Anti-Slavery Convention, it was 
signed by about four hundred " good men and true' — a number that made Liber- 
ty wave her cap, and Mercy smile in gladness. But little Rhode-Island has, in 
this instance, shown herself larger than the largest. Let her be crowned on_ 
Tuesday next. Not that ice rely for success upon any other arm than that of 
Omnipotence: not that we depend upon numbers to inspire our hopes, influ- 
ence our actions, or direct our course. No — but our enemies do ; so that, if wc 
cannot silence them by our arguments, we shall finally do so by our multitudi- 
nous array. Hence it is worthy of remark, that since your conventional notice 
appeared, with its host of signatures gathered from almost every town and vil- 
lage in the State, your pro-slavery newspapers, which were wont to be violent 
and vohible in their denunciations of the abolitionists, iiave all been mute. 

' The oracles are dumb : 
No voice, or hideous hum,' 

IS heard from any quarter. "Where is their patriotism ? Have they grown 
ashamed of their allies, — tiie rabble .' Is the case altered now — and where- 
fore .' Do they hope to satisfy the South, by protesting that they do not 
like her compliments less, but that they like the dollars of the yeomanry of 
Rhode-Island more .' O, no doubt ihey liave good reasons for their silence, 
but they do not like to give them ' upon compulsion' — their principal reason 
(though it would seem to argue the sacrifice of all principle,) would probably be 
found to appertain to both principal and interest. 

What shall I say of the object of your Convention .' It is to form anotiicr 
State Anti-Slavery Society — not for the purpose of leaving Connecticut to stand 
alone, (as she will from all her New-England sisters, but I trust not long,) but 
to embody the opinions of the people of Rhode-Island, in opposition to Ameri- 

*Eight hundred and fifty names were affixed to the call ; but these were only 
the Representatives of the body, not the whole body itself. 



78 Appendix. 



can sla\cry. li is to roll Uk; tide of moral iiilliionio on\var<l to tlic soiuii It is 
to create a Union, by wliieli THE UNION shall be purified Irom every stain of 
blood, and supported to tiie end of time by the pillars of Justice, Libertv, Hu- 
niANixy, RiGHTEOLSNFSs. Forit is by the irresistible pressure of Public Opin- 
ion, that the grim mon«tcr Oppression is to be hurled from his throne of skulls, 
and the fetters of his vicliins are to be broken asunder. Maine has her Slate 
Society, with numerous auxiharies. So has New Hampshire ; so has Vermont; 
so has JMassaclnisetts ; so has Ohio ; so has Kentucky; and so, it shall be an- 
nounced in a few days, has Rhode-Island? All these STATE Societies, ex- 
cepting one, have been organized within two years, besides a National Society. 
These are the tokens of the downfall of our cause, the fewness of our numbers, 
and the impotency of our efforts ! And what have our enemies to present as 
the evidence of ^/(f/r success .' Why, for every score of societies that we have 
formed, they can produce a riot in their favor. For every speech that we liave 
made in fiivor of lil)ertv, they can show a brickbat, or a rotten egg, or a bludgeon, 
or a dagger, used in support of oppression. For every petition that we have put 
up to the Throne of Meicy, they can adduce a sneer, a threat, or a malediction ! 
And we are discomfited, forsooth I This is the general proclamation. Then 
is victorv discomfiture; then is continual success continual defeat ; then is the 
lisetd'lii'p tide its ebb; then is the sun near its meridian waning below the hori- 
zon ! Of what, then, are we confident.' Why, that Truth is more than a 
iiiatch for Falsehood, and that Uiberty is mightier than Oppression. Of what 
do we boast .' of our own strength and prowess .' No. But of the certain prog- 
ress of hiimanitij — the wide rcgcneiation of public sentiment by that 'foolish- 
ness of preaching,' which is yet to bring down principalities and powers, — to 
emancipate agioaiiing world from the bondage of sin, — and to bring people of 
every kindred, tribe and nation into the glorious liberty of the sons of (jod. 
Who are witnesses of the mighty conflict in which we are engaged .' All heav- 
en and earth! What is our Statute Book .' The Bible ! Who is our leader? 
Not one on earth — li\it one in heaven — Jehovah of Hosts ! — Therefore we will 
* give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name !' 

But — to the vhjcrt of your Convention. It is not a foreign, nor a local, nor a 
partial object. It is fraught with more than Grecian or Polish interest. It is 
emphaticallv a N.\Tl()N.\li object, around which arc clustering momentous 
consequences, — universal results. It has a great variety of aspects. Il is to 
emancipate hco millions and a half of our oirn countrymen from a domestic ty- 
ranny, ineomi)arably more dreadful than that which caused all Egyj)t to be filled 
with ])lagues, and I'haraoh and his host to be destroyed in llie Red Sea. It is 
to save a million of the gentler sex from pollution, field labor, and the lash. 
Il is to put an end to an impure and disgraceful amalgamation. It is to restore 
the stolen babe to the arms of its frantic moiher. and to reunite all the sundered 
ties of life. It is to suppress cruelty, stop the effusion of blood, undo the heavy 
burden, enlighten ignorance, destroy the cause of insurrection, abolish heathen- 
ism, place our entire po])ulati(in under equal laws, and suffer none to stand be- 
yond the pale of the Constitution. It is to save, enrich and bless the souili, by 
substituting two millions of free laborers, animated by the hope of reward and 
the ])rospect of ha|ipitiess, in the place of two millions of cattle, goaded to mad- 
ness by torture. It is to avert the overshadowing judgments of Almighty (iod 
from our n.ilion, by a timely repentance. It is to irscue as many new victims 
of slavery in this country, annually, as arc. stolen from Africa by all the kidnap- 
pers in the world. It is to make the theory and the practice of the American 
people harmonious, and perfect in righteousness, so that we may no longer be 
a piovtrb, a hissina, and an aslonishment in llii; c:inli, nor be accessary to the 
despotisms of the old world, nm be guilly of tiie awful i rime of self-murder. In 
line, there is no interest of man wiiicli .ippertains to his inlollect, his soul, liis 
well-being— to time or elerniiy — which it does not seek to advance ; no rever- 
ence for <iod and his comman(iments which it docs not studiously consult. Was 
ever a struggle like this? 

Yet more. In one halfof our country, we who abhor slavery, and are known 
to desire emancipation, cannot travel williout piTilling our proper/ 1/ — s.vfi.tv — 
MVF.S' Yes- from one half ofour bo.isic.l Union, we are exi-luded by the 
establisiimcnl of lynch law- -by the prevabiu c of.is murderous a spirit a« reign- 
ed during the bloody Mipreinaey of French Jacubinism I As saliily luay the 



Appendix. 79 

liberty-loving Greeks go to Constantinople, as any of us to (Mial-leston or New 
Orleans ! It is, iIkhi, llic object ofyoiir Convention to recovci tbe lost, invalu- 
able r«o/ti of locomotion, without hindrance or clanger, in all parts of our coun- 
try, for ourselves and our posterity — to knock off those shackles from our feet 
which now cripple and cMitine us — and to make every nook and corner ol'our 
native territory accessible to all. 

Again. It is to rescue the liberty of speech from the grasp of that op- 
pression, which now holds millions of our colored countrymen by their throats 
— a liberty which is becoming more and more abridged, for which GACiS and 
PADLOCKS are now recommended, without which men arc aliject as brutes, 
and in defence of which our fathers poured out their blood like water. Until 
our tongues are cut out, we will not cease to speak freely — our voices shall bc^ 
heard loud as a thousand thunders, against the enslavement of our species — 
against their enslavers. 

Again. It is to prevent the establishinent of a despotic censorship of the 
PRESS, which is now strenuously advocated even by those high in authority 
among us. What is a free press but the palladium of our rights .'' For whom 
is it desirable.' For ourselves — our country — the whole world. When is it de- 
sirable .' Tti-day — to-morrow— now — in this age — in all ages, llow much is 
it worth ? Hlorc than argosies of gold — as much as life itself What shall 
wrest it from us.' No mobs — no penal enactments — no bodily sufferings — no 
confiscations — nothing hut that which puts an end to our earthly cristence. VVc 
will submit to taunts, calumnies, insults, outrages, tortures — but to a censorshi[) 
of the press, especially on the subject of slavery, WE WILL NOT SUBMIT— 
not if a gibbet is erected for us at the corner of every street, and the fires of mar- 
tyrdom blaze in every square. 

Finally. It is to save the friends of universal libert)' — ourselves — from a 
bloody extermination. Let the eight hundred and fifty persons who signed the 
call of your Convention — and all who shall attend the Convention — and all who 
hold that every yoke ought instantly to be broken — remember that the south de- 
mands, in case of the failure (5f all other means, that ihey shall be ' PUT TO 
DEATH WITHOUT BENEFIT OF CLERGY.' The spirit of southern sla- 
very is a spirit of EXTERMINATION against all those who dare to r(>present 
it as a dishonor to our country, rebellion against God, and treason against tho 
liberties of mankind Now, therefore, that it has come to this — now that the 
alternative which slavery presents to us is, either to consent to be gagged or to 
be suspended upon a gallows — we shall cany on the warfare against it as nnjil 
who realize t'lat upon the energy, union and success of our efforts depend the 
security of our firesides, the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty, the pre = 
servation of our lives, the salvation of our country. As Christian warriors, 
whose weapons are not carnal but spiritual, from man to man, and from rank 
to rank, the interrogation shall pass — 

' Who would be a traitor-knave .'' 
Who would fill a coward's grave .' 
Who so base would be a sldve .'' 

Let him turn and flee .'* 

Excuse tlie length of this epistle — for a slaveholder (Gov. Hayne) tells us, iii! 
liie language of Burke, 'you must pardon something to the spirit of Liberty' — 
and, when so grand and awful a theme as Liberty excites my mind, I know not 
when or where to pause. We have already been called to suffer something in 
this cause — we shall, unquestionably, be tried yet more severely. O, may the 
spirit of retaliation, and all passion and violence, be removed from our hearts ) 
and may we have Christ so fjrmed within us as to be enabled to return good for 
evil, and blessing for cursing, in all cases, under the most grievous provocation. 
I believe ours is the cause of God, else 1 would abandon it instantly. I be- 
lieve we are willing that our blood should b(i shed, rather than that of the 
slaveholders. lam sure that w(! all deprecate insurrection among the slaves^ 
and desire that they may be obedient to their masters «am«^o God, and patient- 
ly wait for a peaceful deliverance through the omnii)otence of truth. Weare' 
stigmatized as hmatics, but our fanaticism is all embodied in the following lines 
of Cowper. Each one of us exclaims with him — 



30 Jppendix. 

' 1 would not have a slave to till mv giounci, 

To carry inc — to fan me when I sleep, 

And tremble when I wake, lor all the wealth 

That sinews, bought and sold, have ever earn'd. 

.\o — dear as freedom is, and in my heart's 

Just estimation prized above all price, 

I had much rather be mijsclf tlic alavc, 

.inil wear the bonds, than fasten them on him.' 

This is the spirit of Cowpcr. It is tlie spirit of Jesus Christ. It is, I trust,, 
the spirit whicii animates tis all, and whirji we desire to see reign in everj 
breast, at the nortii and tlie south, in this and in all other lands, now and 
evermore. It is immediate emani ipation. 

Your devoted fellovv-lal)orer. 

\VM. LLOYD GARRISON. 



CiNcfNNATi, Jan. 22, 183R. 
Mr. U ilham M. Chase, Corresponding Secretary Providence .^nti-Slarery 

Society : 

Dear Sir— My valued friend and brother, Stanton, will inform you whv I 
iiave to make tliis letter the substitute for mv jjersona! presence. The contin- 
ued indisposition of Mrs. B. and the management of the Philanthropist keep me 
near home. But, Sir, 1 have enough to do here. The war is raging— the pro- 
slavery spirit here feels as if it had been .v^?(/c/.-, and is girding itself for'the 
strife. An Anti-abolition meeting is to be held this evenina, called by ' gentle- 
men of property and standing.' The hand of the South has almost benumbed 
the spirit of freedom here. The emancipation of the Slaves is becoming almost 
an incident only to our great object, the jireservation of our own liberty. Our 
<icarest rights are not only menaced, but almost held at the mercy of the slave- 
holding part of the country. 

I cannot print my paper here— I leclured here one evening, to a small 
audience, in a private manner— no notice having been given of it in the papers. 
This is the e.xciiing cause of the meeting this evening. It was but yesterday, 
that a wealthy slaveholder of Kentucky, called to let me know, ihat n'lv Press "in 
Ohio would be destroyed by a band of ///i- fellow citizens, who had de"termined 
upon It — that almost the whole county would bo summoned to the service, and 
that my life was in continual danger. A few days before, a citizen of Cincin- 
nati, a high commissioned ollicer of the militia, called to inform me that I would 
be di.'^gracefully punished and abused, and my property destroyed, if I persisted 
in my anti-slavery movements. 

I pray you press on. It is not a time to he indolent. If we are, our children 
may wear the livery of the slave. If I fall in this cause, I trust it will bring 
hundreds to supply my place. Notwithstanding every obstacle, our cau.se is on 
the advance in this region. Our Society increases in number, and, I think, in 
zeal for rigbteou-ness and libcrtv. 

Farewell, may the Lord bless the Convention in its labors and crown Hi.s 
cause with complete success. 

Yours truly, 

JAMES G. BIRNEY. 

Nkw-Yokk, I"eb. 1, 18;}G. 
To the Rliodr-hland Jlnti-Slaren/ Contention. 

Brethren — As divine I'rovidcnce has interposed bv the inclement weather an 
insuperable hindrance t<i mv being pri'^enl with you duiing voiir sessions, I 
have no alternative but In offer you my ojiinions res|)ectini: tiic lojiir which for 
more than twenty-one years lias always appennd to me to comprisf the giand 
inquiry respecting the moslelhcient method to cxtirpatr the curse of American 
SInvery. 

P(ditical discussions, and even calculations based upon self-interest will 
avail notliing to overtiirow the inonsler which has so long desolated the morals 
and withered the cnerjjics of the Souliiern i itizens. They have been indulged 
in all the vicious grntilirations which lawless power and tmredtrnined lust, run 



Appendix. 3 1 

ainalgamato, uiiiil no consicloralioiis ili-nvii tVoni worldly policy, and ovt'ii ilic 
personal safely of tliuiiisolvcs, tlieir fainilics and friends", can eradicate the iin- 
petuousity with which they fulfil their ungodliness, and their pertinacious 
adhesion to a system which sanctions their indolence and diisolijteness. I do 
not mean that every individual is equally implicated in the wiclted practices 
nor that the general rule is without exceptions, but it is iriefragahle, that the' 
system inevitably conducts to that end. The turpitude of slavery, 'however 
long ere now, would iiave been erased, had not two classes of persons support- 
ed it, from all of whom a totally dillerent course might have been anticipated. 
In one it is unnatural ; in the other it is treachery ; and in both it is unspeak- 
ably criminal and pernicious. 

The connection of Slavery with the profession of religion, audits incorporation 
with theChri,stian churches are the most gross outrage upon common sense and 
the gospel. It is suj)crfluous to enter at large upon this melpiicholy topic— I 
shall advert only to one point ; and that the matter may not be the subject of 
cavil, I shall select an authentic fact ; and it is not adduced from any design to 
particularize any one denomination of professing Christians ; because in tliat re- 
spect, with the exception of one or two of the niinor divisions of Presbyterians 
and the Friends, all of them arc equally criminal ; but I quote it because it is 
the only deliberate act of the kind which has yet been published, and also be- 
cause it was announced for the first time no longer ago than the eighteenth of 
December, 1835, in the Southern Baptist. 

At the last meeting of the Savannah River Baptist Association, comnosed of 
.-...'.Ir.nl „l,,,-„u„., :.. «!„... u r" i:..„ i t^ :^ .1 .r 



pr .... 

prospect of future intercourse, the parties ought to be allowed to marrij arraln?' 
1 may however remark that the deccitfulness of slavery is developed even in 
terms of the question, for Slaves arc not permitted to marry! They may have in- 
tercourse, to propagate merchantable creatures like themselves; but tlie affections, 
bonds, duties, and obligations of the matrimonial covenant and relation are' 
totally unknown, or rather are prohibited by laws among all the slaves in the 
southern states. 

However, to that deceptive question, the Savannah River Baptist Association 
returned the following most ungodly answer : ' Such separation among persons 
situated as our slaves, is civilly a separation by death, and in the siglu of God 
it would so be viewed. To forbid second marriages in such a case would be to 
expose the parties not only to strange hardships and strong temptations, but to 
church censure, for acting in obedience to their masters, who cannot be expected 
to acquiesce in a regulation at variance with justice to the slaves, and to tho 
spirit of that command which regulates marriage among Christians. The slaves 
are not free agents ; and a dissolution by death is not more entirely without 
their consent and beyond their control, than by such separation.' 

The above doctrine announced as oracular by the Baptist Association, unfolds 
the character of Slavery, and verifies beyond all dispute the most direful alle<ra- 
tions which the champions of evangelical truth have ever proclaimed atrainst 
that demon of mischief. That Association emphatically attest the follovvin<r 
dogmas, as connected with Christian slaveholding in thcir'churches : '^ 

1. That slaves are not free agents ; but in every thing bound to obey iliwir 
masters, in preference to God. 

2. That the universal impurity which exists among the slaves in America is 
involuntary on their part ! 

3. That slaveholders nullify the laws of Jehovah in reference to the seventJi 
commandment, expressly to promote their worldly interest and enjoyments. 

4. That American Slavery is ' at variance with the commands reguhitiu''- mar- 
riage,' according to the Scriptures. ° 

5. That to inflict ' church censure' upon slaves for living in concubina''e or 
promiscuous intercourse with females, is unjust to the slaves. ° 

6. That the transfer of a man or his female beloved associate, with whom 
independent of connubial ties, he may faithfully cohabit, is a separation equiva- 
lent to death ; and that slaveholders will not acquiesce in any regulation which 
is at variance with it. 

7. That slaveholders prolessing religion do continually abrogate the coiumaiu! 



t>2 Appendix. 

oTGoti rcs|i.;Lliiig iiiJiiiiage : aiul do oacouir.ge all tliat MllL•Iean!lc^•s whii-li is- 
out of ific most slriUitig c.vliibilioiis of social life in ihu sl;i\ eholdiiig State;!. 

All tlicse positions and ihuir confoiuitant piai-ticos, notuitli>innding tlieir ab- 
fioricii't loatlisonieness and turpituife, were announced at the latter end of the 
year IcS^G, by a Baplisf Associiuion, as an oracular display of Clirislian casuistry 
in the United States ; and it requires neither arguaient nor proof to convince us, 
that Slavery cannot be abolished, as long as New-England Christians acknowl- 
ndge, that men wlio avow those principles are sincere followeis of Jesus of 
\azarelli. T.'ial is one class of persons who constitute the strong hold of Sla- 
very. The Southern Churches are composed almost without exception of Slave- 
Drivers; and so long as New-England believers, when they ' see a thief con- 
sent with him': and permit a preaching slaveholder, witli his pockets tilled with 
the price ofsculs, to chatter in their pulpits respecting 'Justice and Mercy,' so 
long will Slavery triumph ; and as Jong as they associate at the Lord's table 
Willi men wliose hands are begriinmed witli the blood of slaves, so long in tinth 
do they neglect the apostolic admonition. 1st Corinthians x. ::iU : 'I would not 
lh.ll you should have fellowship with devils.' 

But what shall we say of the other class who thus paint over the hideous fea- 
tures of slavery, and bedaub the monster until his hellish countenance is con- 
cealed, if not rendered attractive i The women are the great buttress of Southern 
Slavery, Notiiing can be more painfully repugnant than the astounding fact, 
that a system which appears so indescribably abominable, even on the palliating 
and deceitful record ol the Savannuh River Baptist Association, should not only 
be involuntarily tolerated by the sontliern Females, but that it should be sus- 
tained by their participation. Tor it is a fact, that widow ladies, and also un- 
married junior women, will sell tlieir colored girls, against their wills and inclin- 
ations, to white men, expressly lor the purposes of licentiousness ; and that 
Christian females are not less implicated in this most awful criminality, than the 
most hardened profligates among the slavcholding transgressors. 

Ileiicc, it is the diitv of the Rhode-Island Ami-Slavery Convention at once, 
categorically, and most resolutely to tleclare, that the churches in that State will 
have no fellowship with those works of darkness, nor with the perpetrators of 
that iniquity ; and that thcv will, neither in word nor in deed, acknowledge 
slaveholders under any pretext, to bo consistent disciples of Jesus, who came to 
preach deliverance to the captives. 

May the Father of light bless you with wisdom, and love, and unity. 
I am your fiiithful co-laborer, 

GEORGE BOURNE. 



Nkw-York, "iOth J.vN. 183G. 
Mr. iVin. M. Cfiaiu, Cor. -Scr. Procidcnce .htti-iSUiccry Society. 
tizAR SiK — Your invitation to attend the Convention to be held at Provi- 
dence, on the 2d t>fnext month, was duly received. Be assured it would yield 
me great satisfaction to be jiresent on that interesting occasion, and nothiiiH but 
necessary attention to business, growing out of the hire lire in this city, prevents 
me from attending. The prayers of the friends of the Anti-Slavery cause, bond 
and free, will doubtless ascend for u blessing upon the Convention. May the 
members be guided by wisdom i'roni on high ! Especially may they have grace 
to adhere with firmness to the foundation principles of our Association. There 
i6 mure danger, just now, of relinqnishiiig piincijiles, than in not having large 
actcssioM* of converts. Or, 1 might have said, there is more apprehension tliat 
men will seek admission into (>ur Society who are nut sound in the faith, than 
that the interests of the cause will be jeoparded by inainiaining, resolutely, the 
gruat doctiines contained in the Declaration of Sentiments put fortii by the Coii- 
venlmn lltai formed the American Anti-Slavery Society. 
1 remain, very respectfnllv, yours, 

f.KW IS TAl'l'AJN. 



Ntw-VoKh. Jan. CI, 183G. 
.Mr. if VI M. Cliacc: 

Deau Sik — Vonr l;t\or of'.'lh iiist. is nciucd. with Iwiiity dollars for lial 
Kurt ol pledge of tlie rrovidence Eadics Anti-Slavery Society \'o\: 31r5. 11 L 
Trtietdi'll, for wlucli llicy will [deast acce]it our lliniiKs. 



ApppudiXc 



Wfi have linon clieerfiii l.iti.'ly Ijv llie lefpipt oC (ierril ymitli's New Year's 
i^-ift of One Tiious.ind Dollars. TIk; J.oi-d liath tlio. silver ami golil, and llit 
Uearls of all nifii in liis iiands. and ran niak(; tlicin How togelluT ti>i- liii* aid oJ' 
tlie poor slavo. 

I am rejoiced at your prospefts for tin- Stale Convention. It prc->eivts strong 
inducements Cor uie. and if I c;u5 r.o arrange mv affairs, i shall be most liappv 
to attend. I must doft-r a more decided answer till tJie time is near at JianJ. 
Yourri respect! ullv and trjtiv, 

JOn.N RANKIIN 



Chaki.kstown. (R. I.) Jan. 20, ]8:i'-. 
Tn the President of tlie .dtiti.-Slnvery ConrcnliGn, to usi^einhle iti Pro.'-Ldei.! r 
February 2, IS'M) : 
Dear Sir — Were it not that circumstances render it impossible, w£ should 
be pleased lo participat-c with you in the j>roeeedin<;s of the Conveniion. \Ve 
hilly and cordially approve tlif; object which has called vou together. VVe are 
decidedly opposed to slavery, and believe that it ought J,o be immediately and 
totally abolished : and further, that measures should be adopted to persuade 
ilutse who have the power, to accomplish so desirable a work. We think ton 
that the jXnrth should be peculiarly jealous of her own fights at this crisis. — 
W hen we are required to surrender up fiecdnin of speocli an.;l of the press and 
the right of petition, to enable the South to hold her sJaves in quiet, the .ques- 
tion then presented to us is not merely whether the slaves of the South are 
entitled to their inalienable rights, but whether the freemen of the North shall 
be permitted :lo exercise their rights. If slavery and free discussion cannot 
l)oth e.\ist together, then, as men professing to be republicans, we eay, ,Iet 
slavery fall. 

We trust the Conve-etioii will be guided to the adoption of &iicli measures as 
will vindicate the principles of iVeedom and humanity, and arwise the public 
sentiment of this State to act against a sy.stem which Is at war -with the dictatac 
of philanthropy and the foundation principles otoiir free institi:tions. 
Y'ours rcspo.'^.-tfullv, 

IIOXSIE PERRY. 
JOSEPH STAjNTON. 



\^■mTKSBo^vo', (N. Y.) Jan. 20, ^&.i(^,. 
To the President of the .irdi-Hlarcry Cmmention, assembled at Proxidcnce^ 

February 2. 
I. should .gieatlv rejoice to be with you, as I hav« kindly been invited, on the 
important and deliglitful occasion, which cannot Jail to draw together a multi- 
tude of the intelligent, devoted, enterprising friends of human nature ; an occa- 
sion no less important and delightful than to add aiioti;cr to i he catalogue of 
State Anti-Slavery Societies, which are rising up to bless our Republic. May 
our Saviour, whose great and gracious heart is full of lively, yearning sym- 
pathy for the oppressed, be with you, hreathing upon your inmost souls the 
spirit of wisdom and of mercy — the spirit of ' pou ei , and of love, and of p. 
sound mind.' 

The results which have already followed such exertions as the friends of 
human nature have in this country been enabled tf) m.t.ke. have exceeded, 
both in magnitude and worth, the expectations even of the sanguine. The 
bearing of these exertions upon the moral and political condition and -proi.- 
peels of the nation has been as benign, as it has been powerful. 

The fie, whioli lay in ambush to stab our freedom to the bean, has beep, 
driven from liis lurking place. From his dragon-fice the mask has been 
lorn. His fiery eyes and forked tongue have been exposed. VVe now know 
witk whom and on loliat ground the conflict is to be carried on. Goaded to 
madness by the truths which have pierced his ear, and roused bit; conscience, 
the oppressor belches forth his gal! and wormwood, as well upcn 'the free 
as the enslaved. Those, who pity the sorrows and plead the cause of the 
oppressed, are threatened witii the same crushing burdens ami killinir *njn- 
Ties as are their dreadful allolmmit. Thus it is obvious to the duUrsi .eve, 
■that is not closed in wilful blindness, rli;it the friends nf freedom must, -lin- 
idrr God, go forward and wcuk ileliveraiice for ihp.ir /•/(untrviucn }j& i^^iavniy.. 



84 Appendix. 



'11- submit iliemselves t(i llii' •;;imf intolerable bondago. Tims llie anti-iojiiib- 
iiciin t(.'ii(i(!iicii's of the system ol" Aiiioiican Slavery are glaringly exj)oseil — 
and exposed too by the agency of the Abolitionists. The tendencies were 
going on in lull power to their terrific results before; but going on unob- 
served in secret. .Multiplied hands have been diligently at work all along, 
forginj; chains lor our limbs ; but the sliops, with their fierce fires and re- 
sounding anvils, v.eie opened iiiider ground — far beneatli the cheerful light 
and wholesome air of open day. The Abolitionists have at length succeed- 
ed — thanks to the Father of the fatherless — in breaking up the soil, and let- 
ting in the sun upon the sooty artilicer. Will the children of the men of 
177(; consent to receive the chains, which are thus forged heiore their eyes .' 
This question the Aboliiionists have at length succeeded in forcing on the 
attention of a reluctant and uugratelnl nation: and it must be diicided, and 
decided soon ! 

The doctrines, designs, and movements of our Anti-Slavery Societies have 
already had the happiest influence upon the American Churches. True jiictij 
Jiutls, as it must ever find, its appropriate nourishment in general ■jihilanthropii. 
Separated from the latter, the f jrmer sinks into a sickly, worthless sentimen- 
talism — as useless as the sighs and tears of the nervous novel-reader. To scorn 
humanity in iis most degraded and loathsome forms, is to iiate God our Sav- 
iour. To cherisli the former is to honor the latter. What sort of a magnet 
would that be, which could attract only polished varnished steel I ^V'hat sort ol' 
a benevolence must that be, wliich excludes from its sympathies those sufi'eiers, 
npon whom a thoughtless world impresses its iron hoof's I Yet such benevolence, 
bnse and worthless as it is, has to a fearful extent usurped the place and the 
honors of Chiistian piety. Hence the murderous 7ic<rleet of the slaves, of which 
our churches have generally been guiliy. J\'cirleet, did I say.' In one place — in 
a thousand places, wo hear one ' loud professor' apologize for the system of 
theft, adultery and inuider, which oilier 'loud j)rofessors' vociferously delend 
and sioutiv mainlain ! Tims .ludas insists upon kecjiing his jilacc at the table oi" 
the ftlaster he is intent on betraying. JN'ovv, the Anti-Slavery reformation is 
drawing forth fiom the dust and rubbish, where a secular Christianity iias con- 
cealed them, the great elemental jjriiiciples of the Gospel. It is bringing our 
churches to a test of character, which must expose the elements of which they 
ar(! comj)osed. It is opening the way for the prevalence of a religion, as useful 
to men as honorable to (iod. 

Wilv j)oliticiuiis and jiractised hypocrites will be very angry with you. They 
will rage and rave Heaven and earth' they will try to fill with their mad 
ilamor. They will try to overwhelm von with liaid names and hard thrc^atcn- 
ings. But you will not be intimidaled. You know that their convulsive wrilli- 
iiigs prove, that they I'eel tlu! pressure of a powerl"ul hand. 1-et not thai hand 
remit its gr.'isj). (<od will gl\e to triilh and righteousness ilu; victory. 

To Him. my dear Sir. let us cling. Let us plead fm- His sull'ering poor in 
Ills /iiniie : and He will give us till! wisdom and strength we so manifestly need. 
Yoiiis in the best of causes, 

BERIAII GUEEN. 



SouTii-KiNGSTowK, (R. I.) Feb. 2, 1836. 
To the I'rrsidenI of the Jhiti-Sliircri/ C'onrention, to meet this daij in Prori- 

dence : 

SiK — I'revenlcd by circiimslanccs that render our personal attendance to take 
iiart in the deliberations of the ('onvention impraclicabh', we are noiu! the less 
^^o^lcilons for the ])roniotion of the object for which our felKuv-cilizens have 
assembled, and assure you that it meets our warmest approbalion. 

Tiie doctrine that ' all inrii are <reated i (|ual. ;nid are endowed with an in- 
alicnahle light to hl'e. liliei'.v.and the piirMiit of hapjiiness,' we regard as the 
cnriier-stonc of our Ikcpublican edifice, it must he /uaetiratli/ mainlained, or 
ihedays of our Hcpnhlic are niimliered. l.iherly and despotism cannot exist 
logctlier. for a huig period, in the sami' go\ei nnient. They are aiilngoiiist prin- 
riples, ever waging an exierminaiiiig war, and sooner or later llic one will ovor- 
ilirow the (<ihfr. In this nution tli':; contest has linally come, and Slavery or 
rroedoni iiinst triumph. 

llcrrMii ficvelopments show that Southern Sla\eiv cannot exist, if freedom of 



Appendix. 85 

speecii, tlie liherlv ol'tlie press, and tlio right of pclilion nre maintained. Hnnro^ 
in order liiat the South may perpetuate this system, she demands that we of tlu: 
North shall cease to speak and publish our sentiments on the great question of 
human liberty and the rights of man. These rights, given tc us by our Creator, 
wrested from the grasp of a foreign despot by our fatiiers in the war ofthtrovo-- 
lution — solemnly recognized in the Constitution of the United States, and in 
thosR of the several States, ice can never surrender ; especially to purchase for 
our fellow citizens of tiie South, the privilege of perpetuating a s\stem which 
is bringing pecuniary, political and moral ruin upon tiiemselves — is the source 
of all our political divi-ions and jealou.sies — disgraces u.s in the eyes of the civ- 
ilized world — and deprives one-sixtli ol" '.>ur entire ])opulation of their inaliena- 
ble rights, and inflicts upon them innumerable miseries. 

While tec laill not interfere witli any of the Constitulional rights of the South, 
we shall be careful that our own be not invaded. And, if slavery and free dis- 
cussion cannot co-exist, and one or the other must be given up, we think it 
would comport better with the genius of a free, republican and Christian nation, 
to surrender the former and cherish the latter — since, in forming our minds upon 
a question like this, and in the expressing and actuig out ihat mind, u-e disdain 
to be slaves, either for another's, or our own interest or popularity, or blindiv to 
follow the multitude because they are the multitude. We will not advert to 
the operating reasons and necessities that prevent olhers at this time, from 
speaking out the honest convictions of their understandings. The time to be- 
gin to be just is when we know we are unjust. Let us not, for a tenqjorary 
success, as individuals, or in church or state, wink at the evil machinations of 
man, and jump over the golden rule, even though by example we are taught 
to do so by a time-serving people. 

We trust the Convention will be guided to the adoption of such measures as 
will become the citizens of a State, which has ever been distinguished for her 
attachment to the principles of civil and religious freedom. 

It woidd have given us great pleasure to have participated with you in your 
interesting meeting, but our eniragements forbid. 

WILLIAM PECKHA.M, WILLIAM FRENCH, 

BENJAMIN GARY, HENRY ELDRED, jun. 

HEZEKIAH BABCOCK, P. HELME, 

AMOS C. WILBUR, THOMAS R. WELLS, 

N. C. ARMSTRONG, PELEG JOHNSON. 

ROBERT C. BROWN, WELCOME C. BUR DICK, 

JOB W. WATSON, CHRISTO'R COMSTOCK, 

JOHN SMITH, JOHN ALDRICH. 

THOMAS B. CHURCH, 



Peterboro,' Dec. 2G, 1S35. (Saturday evening.) 
Dear Sir — On my return from a journey, 1 find your letter. It would indeed 
give me very great pleasure to be with you on the very interesting and impor- 
tant occasion of forming an Anti-Slavery Society for your State. But so nume- 
rous are my business and other engagements, that I must decline the invitation 
which your letter extends to me. I must attend a very impoitant Temperance 
meeting in Albany, early in February. 

The Lord bless all endeavors that shall be suitably and scrijnurally made to 
interest the people of your State in the millions of their enslaved and crushed 
countrymen. 

Very respectfullv yours, 

GERRIT SMITH. 
Mr. IVm. M. C/iace, Cor. Sec. Providence A. S. Society. 

Itiiica, N. Y., Jan. 25, 183C. 
To the Rhode-Island. State Anti-Slavery Convention : 
Dear Brethren, — I have received a kind letter inviting me to your Conven- 
tion. As 1 cannot report myself to the Convention in person, wiiich I exceed- 
ingly regret, I must content myself to be represented by suc.'i a proxy as I can 
find time to scribble before the departure of this evening's mail. And if it be 
not a very 'incendiary document,' charge it to the congeaiings, watchings and 
exhaustions of a journey of four hundred miles, prosecuted iiiglit and day, in a 
zero atmosphere, 



^86 Appendix. 

Willi tr.y wliffllfi lieart. denr lirrllirnn. I shout to you my frntcrnal ' Ar.i. IIait,' ' 
AVli.'it ! Jinolher Convention lor tlie ibrniation of a Stato Anti-Slav<^ry fHJciety ' 
^lassaclitisetts, Vermont, Jlaine, Ne\v-Hani.pshire, Kentuekv, Oliio, JS'cw-York, 
ami now Rliodo-Isl.ind ! Lot us sinjr unto the Lord, for lie hatli tritimplied i;lo- 
riou.-ily I Be Mis alone the praise ! Tlie toil, the peril, the suffering of shame, 
tlie spoiling of goods, tiie loss of all things, be this our lot and jov, and this our 
song, in the house of our pilgriKiage, ' The lines iiave fallen unto us in plea- 
sant places, and we have a goodly heritage.' 

Success in a good cause, is God's endorseinent to it. It is more. It is His 
reward fur the past. His promise and His premium for the future : — His high 
command for niigluier striving : His trumpet cull, summoning onward from 
strength to strength, and from coiKjuering to concpjcr. If this be not its cflect 
upon us. success will be disaster, prosperitv downfall, victory defeat, and 
triumph ruin. Woe unto us ifour:f«^ and faith do not keep pace with our re- 
sponsib-ilitics. It is treason at such a time as this, for than to lag in the rear of 
success, hanging upon its skirts, iiiere pensioners and encumbrances. Tiiey 
must e.xplore far m advance, casting up a high way for the sacramental host, while 
they shout and wave signals from every hill-top as they beckon the van. It" 
every new accession to our cause, girds us anew, buoys us up to higher aims, 
gives us a fresher iiaptisin. a holier unction, and a firmer anchorage on fiod. 
then shall our light break forth as the morning, and thick darkness become noon- 
day. AVIiat ! Sliall the hamlH be no longer staid up \vhen Israel //cff/n.? to 
prevail.' Shall Ecal be quenched rather than kindled by the anointing oil? 
Shall vigilance let do-wn its vvatc-h when the din of the conflict is tvaxing louder, 
and b(! lulled into slumber by the shoutings of triumph beinJn .' Detler that the 
places which know us. should know us no more, — yea. had known us never. — 
then thus to betray the world's last trust, ami dash forever its new-born hopes, 
recreant to truth, traitorous to huEianity, and making shipwreck of failli in 
apostacy ironi God. 

I this'mouienc remember that Rhodolsland is the land of Roger Williams, 
and Samuel Hopkins, and Moses Ilrown; veterans, pioneers, patriarchs, in the 
cause of human liberty. (God he praised th«t when the two fonnicr went up to 
Heaven, they did not take their mantles with them ■. and that the latter vet lives 
to vindicate the rights of man.) Uut there is anoilwM- sidi- to the picture. — 
Rhode-Island is stooped in the guilt and infamy of the Africn-n Slave Trade, 
Some of her princely fortunes are the product of traffic in the souls of men '. 
We hail your State Anti-Slavery Convention, as the glorious first fruits meet 
lor repentance : an offering of a sweet smelling savor ! What more befit- 
ting than that Rhode-Island should organize a State Anti-Slavery Society, in 
whose full layer she may cleanse away lior stains, and 'wash her hands in in- 
nocencv '■' Further: — she is the most profitable customer of the South in her 
great staple of cotton : — thus deputing the master, as her agent, to plunder the 
slave of his all, and then, by inviting iiim to Jicr market with his spoils, lo re- 
ceive tlie wages of his iniquity, she bribes him to plunder again. Further: — 
your beautiful cit}', -and villages along your shore and tlirough your interior, are 
the summer resortof thousands who bold slavet; at the South. What oppcrtu- 
nitics for influence against slavery, for argument, remonstrance, warnings, en- 
treaties and tears I Verily, Rhode-Island viiikI have a State Anti-Slavcrv Society ; 
I have no fears as to the issues of your Convention. Though a stranger to your 
persons, perhaps without an exception, yet your creed I know. Vour spirit, 
your testimony, and zeal, and patience of hope and labors of love. I know, and 
claim a oneness with you in iiulissoltilile brotherhood. 

Tlic oircumsianccs under which the (ronvenlion will assemble, arc marked 
and peculiar. Fvents the iiioHt cMraorilinary and portentous are crmvding upon 
us, thick as the hours NOW IS THE CRISIS, (^ingress and Slate Legisla- 
tures, in debate oi. questions vital to our existence : — the rights of discussion : — 
petition : — freedom of speech : of the press : of the public mail : — whether Con- 
stitutions shall be the rhajlrrs or thi^ mockers of rights: — whether law shall he 
arcalilij i)T nniillitii ! .' Where ;irc we.' Ivobhcries of the mail, perpetrated by its 
oflici.il guardians I .Mobs, headcil bv judici;il olficers I Constituiional assemblies 
of the peiiple, broken up by violence, while judges .'.nd members ol' Congress 
iiresiile on the occasion, ;ind ofliciaio during the ceremony I .Mnnii'ipnl aiithori- 
Jles. ajipcasing tin' wrath of a frenzied ridible by the violent seizure of private 



Appemlix. 87 

OTUiHTiV; ;ind siicrilu-mg it as a peace odcriiig I An iiiiniterit citi/.uii, seized iir 
bed at luidriiijlit, gagged, threatened with mutilation and dealli, and dragged 
iVom ihe liouse by a score ofrutlians ! Anoiher, ciiased down in the streets of a 
city, and dragged about with ropes at noon-day I Another, and he a stranger on 
an errand of love, hunted liiie a beast of prey from town to town and city to- 
city, by a ferocious multitude, eager to lap tus blood ! All this, and a thousand 
times more, in Free States: and Law mute; and public sfintiment, with loud 
acclaim, shouting its exlaciesover the whole! AVhile these outrages aie enacted 
at the J\'orth, thousands at the South, no longer content with tiic robbery of 
individual rights, are making a desperate clutch at the rights of a nation, and 
waging deadly strife to wrest Texas from Mexico, to make it a slave market! 

W^ould that these were the only signs of the times, black with baleful poitent. 
But no ! The Church of God nut only lays upon His altar 'robbery for burnt 
offering,' but now she waxes bolder in imp'iety, and summons her Great Head to 
prove, that the imbruting of His image is a virtue I And she blasphemously 
craves His aid in the process, and His benediction in the result -.—claiming, that 
to traflic in the pifrchase of atoning blood, and to make merchandize of the Tem- 
ple of the iloly Ghost, is homage to God, obedience to the law of love, an imi- 
tation of patriarchs and apostles, and well pleasing to the Holy One I 

But, I need not enumerate. 1 have already wearied you with detail. My 
apology is, that ijours is the first State Anti-Slavery Convention held since tiie 
spirit of slavery slript off its last disguises, and revealed its own reality, walking 
naked and foaming out its own shame and blasphemy and blood. All who love 
our blessed cause wait, as those who watch for the morning, to hear from your 
Convention a testimony voiced forth in the majesty of Truth and in the name 
of Jehovah : — such a solemn testimony as the crisis demands, and such as God 
will surely enable the Convention to give. We wait to be girded, strengthened, 
abundantly refreshed and mightily impelled onward by your proceedings. We 
expect to tind in them, sympathy, melting as the heart of Jesus, and wide and 
deep as human woe. Benevolence, flowing like the water of life in the river 
of God. Principle, disdaining alliance with the policy of the world. Truth 
and Right, erect and aloft in the pure air and clear sunshine of their own home. 
Conscience, unblinded by passion, unbribed by interest, unentangled by expe- 
diency, aloof from guile, and sternly holding'temptation at bay. Duty, deaf 
alike to parley and to importunity, neither stooping to compromise nor shrink- 
ing from conflict, neither awed by menace nor wheedled by flattery, nor seduc- 
ed by blandishments: but Duty, forever ONWARD, whether flowers or thorns 
be the pathway, whether convoyed by Angels shouting songs of deliverance, or 
gnashed upon by Demons yelling the war-cry of the pit. But I am admonished 
to close. May the God of the oppressed, of the poor and needy, and those who 
have no helper, guide the Convention into all truth and duty : so pervadino- 
your deliberations, and so ordering your decisions, that ' salvation as a lamp that 
burneth,' may go out from your midst over all the wrongs and woes of a bleed- 
ing world, and speedily bring in the glorious consummation, when the wicked 
shall cease from troubling, and the weary be at rest, and the slave free from 
his master. 

Most affectionately, your brother 

In bonds with the perishing, 

THEODORE DWIGHT WELD. 



54 ff 



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